Tales of Bleach: Crossing Moons
by Xerosonic
Summary: Instead of going to Karakura Town Rukia is sent to Terca Lumires inevitably resulting in the entrance of Yuri Lowell Substitute Shinigami. How will the Blade of Fate change the destiny of the members of Brave Vesperia?
1. The Meeting of the Shinigami

**A/N Hello everyone. If you are reading this then that means i am re-booting the series right now. Chapters will be cleaned up and refreshed to help maintain the structure of the fic and it's plot. If you see chapter 27 posted, that means i have completed my clean up, for now you may notice some inconsistencies throught the fic while this is happening. If there is a chapter 27 please disregard this message. Thanks and enjoy.**

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**Third Person View, Zaphias, Lower Quarter**

It has been around six months since the events of the Adephagos' defeat. Karol is in Dahngrest taking care of the guild Brave Vesperia. Brave Vesperia has expanded on a larger scale, so there are so many members that Karol is swamped with managing it all.

Flynn is the commandant of the imperial knights; taking care of all the duties that comes with the position. Rita is staying at Halure now since the city of Aspio was destroyed. Estelle is doing fine in the castle, always taking the time to go to Halure to tell her fairy-tales as usual. Judith is traveling with Baul around the world. In essence, the excitement is slowly dying away.

For Raven's position, even though the Blastia is running off of his own life, it's just a matter of time before he runs out of fumes. It's been apparent time and again during their adventures that he constantly clenches his chest as if he was in pain. The only one who noticed and showed concern was Judith and Yuri; constantly worrying that one day he will croak.

As for Yuri, he goes through the days in Zaphias with nothing to do. Ever since the Blastia of this world was disposed of; a lot of his fighting capabilities were downgraded. It doesn't mean he's weak; Yuri just cant fight the way he used to now. But even as useless as it is; Yuri made sure to keep the the bohdi blastia. Even if it doesn't work anymore it's still a memento of his former Captain from the knights, Fedrock, whom he misses even today.

Right now the moon hangs high in the sky while Yuri is siting upon the window of his apartment while Repede lays in his bed perfectly awake. Yuri spends his time in watching people pass by. Yuri took it upon himself after the Adephagos' defeat to become the neighborhood watch of the area; under Flynn's supervision to Yuri's dismay.

Feeling bored and the need to move around to patrol the area; Yuri leapt out of his window the the grounds below. Even though it is a three-story drop Yuri manages to land on his feet as always with Repede following down the stairs quickly from behind. I just felt like a walk, it's nighttime so it gave off a calm atmosphere in the town. Trouble usually doesn't brew very easily anymore now that FLynn has the knights spread to keep things in check more than before. This fact helps Yuri relax a bit around town.

Lately though their has been a number of dissapearences accourding to Flynn these days. Very few people know of this, but Yuri hears all of it from Flynn when the Commandant needs someone to talk to. They keep well connected and it helps both of them get work done.

Yuri strolls around the vicinity, pass the center fountain of the lower quarter, and towards the lower quarter exit of zaphias. This is the usual starting stroll of Yuri's night to check the traffic of peoiple and who's hanging about. To Yuri's surprise, he sees Raven up and about doing back flips next to a bench near the entrance as people pass by without losing a beat. Yuri holds back his laugh, but it escapes somewhat into a snicker.

"Yep. Raven sure hasn't changed much after all this time." Yuri spoke his thoughts outloud as if expecting someone to hear. Repede gives a bark back as a response; surprising Yuri a bit due to the humor he felt for a moment. "Better check out what he's up to though. Him outside of Dahngrest just means serious buisness of total goofing off." Repede gives a solid woof in response and they both approach Raven from the side.

Yuri appraoches Raven from the side and grabs the old man's attention. "Hey there Raven, what are you scheming this time?" He asks with a large grin.

"Scheming?" Raven spins around with energy and salutes. "Why do you have to be so heartless as to accuse me of something so devilish as that?" Raven replies sarcastically.

"Knowing you, I have to be careful about having you around. Who knows what you can do in such a short amount of time." Yuri notes while placing his free hand on his hip.

"Oh give this old man a break." Raven whined.

"Nope." Yuri and raven continues to berate each other with a slew of witty comments until both sides decide to get to the main point. "Anyway, how is that Blastia in your chest holding up?" Raven's usual playful aura disappears along with his smile thanks to my question. That was all Yuri needed as a response to see that nothing good is coming his way. "Not very well i see."

"I'll be blunt, I don't have much more to go off of. With the amount of time that I had to fight I'm finally burning out." Raven began to explain his condition more thoroughly for a bit. "Using my life force rather than aer makes me more powerful, but now I probably don't have anymore than a few months." He says; now sounding depressed.

"Can't you see if Rita would probably help you out at least?" Yuri suggested to the old soldier.

Raven couldn't help but laugh. "What are you talking about boy, that girl can't wait for the day that I die so she can dance on my grave." Raven said sarcastically, smile now back on his face. The smile died softly later and he sloutches a bit when he spoke again. "Not to mention that I don't want anyone to know about this. Keep this hush-hush from everyone so no one worries their head off. You're the only one that i can tell this too."

"Well at least you can keep yourself positive until the end. You're not the one who would just lie down and let death take you...wait." Yuri realizes the oddity of his comment that he didn't notice before and tries to take it back.

A bit too late since Raven responds first. "Cold." Raven pouts, but oddly enough laughs. "Ah well, That just means that as soon as I die Brave Vesperia doesn't own me anymore." Raven stood back up straight and pats the back of his head. "Since you're here though I can tell you some information. There has been more than just dissapearences happening. It's a manhunt for a psychopath who has been killing a good number of people.

"What?" Yuri exclaims in shock. He knew that people were vanishing, but to think that it is developing into manslaughter is not something Yuri is comfortable about hearing. Yuri regains himself before talking though. "That's just great, after all our effort in stopping the end of humanity we start going at each others throats like nothing happened for unity."

"Sad, but true." Raven says.

"That just means that I'm going to go hunting now. Flynn is going to need all the help he can get at this point."

"The knights are going crazy trying to find out who, why, or how. The victims are completely unrelated to each other so that just makes Flynn's job even harder to find. This guy is indiscriminate. We already have over a couple dozen victims; men, women and children." Raven elaborates the current situation to Yuri with as much detail as possible. "Don't get too caught up Yuri. No one wants you diving into your old tendencies." Raven warns considering how Yuri can get with any type of development like this one.

"I won't. Take care Raven." Yuri assures as he turns and walks away.

"Yeah, take care of yourself…Yuri Lowell."

* * *

**Later that Night**

Yuri walks around the royal quarter with not a single sound made to avoid attention to himself by anyone he may find a threat. The area he is in is pretty narrow though; more like a service passage than a walkway and the walls rise up to the ground only a good 10 feet. Yuri had already scouted the other areas and none of them had any clues as to what he is dealing with

Everything changes when Repede starts to growl; he only does that when annoyed or if he senses danger. Right now the latter would be the case here. Yuri immediately draws his sword and stands at a ready position for a fight. They scan the area around them, but there is nothing out the ordinary. Yuri knew it couldn't have been their imagination because Repede's nose is never wrong and Yuri always knew to trust Repede's senses. It turns out moments later that they were right when an explosive sound is heard not too far from their position.

Both Yuri and Repede storm out of the service road and around a building to discover a large section of it in ruins. A large spider-like humanoid monster is standing in the wreckage with a young woman, no older than seventeen, dressed in a warriors Hakama kneeling on the ground with blood dripping from her wounds. She has a katana in her hand, giving Yuri the incentive that she is in combat with the beast. Without much thought in what Yuri and Repede should do; the two of them rush forward to the woman's aid.

Yuri charges to try and slash at the creatures leg to get him down. He manages to make a small cut, but nothing that woiuld otherwise be harmful to the beast. An ineffective attack. Repede dashes over and leaps onto the creatures back to reach it's neck. Repede stabs his to the creatures back, but the blade breaks on impact and Repede starts bleeding from his mouth. The two fighters jumps back and regroups at the kneeling woman.

"Y-You can see us!" The girl askes with a shocked expression face.

"Well I sure wouldn't notice you if i couldn't see you. Much less talk to you." Yuri replies with a sarcastic grin. "What is this thing we're up against anyway? I've never seen anything like that." Yuri notices that the monster is about to lunge his three large right arms at him, so he reflexively grabs the lady and leaps away to the left while Repede leaps left.

"I'll explain later, right now that _thing_ is still angry!" She says says to Yuri. The rouge swordsman knew one thing for sure, he can't beat it.

"Repede, evade and escape, regroup later." Yuri shouts as he turns around and bolts the opposite direction of the monster. He can't handle a fight like this with the strength he has right now. Too much of a disadvantage is present and Yuri's chance of winning is critically low.

He looks down to the woman he is holding to examine her. She has a pretty bad cut across he abdominal area. It's not fatal, but it's enough to keep her from making any more struggles against the monster they are dealing with. "H-hey." The woman spoke. Her voice sounds weak and tired; showing signs that she has been fighting for a while. "How did you find me?"

"Repede, my canine companion, has a really good nose. There's nothing he can't find with it." Yuri asnwered softly so he doesn't make her feel uncomfortable.

"I see...the hollow isn't chasing us though."

"Hollow?" Yuri stops to turn around. Yuri assumes that the term _Hollow_ is referring to the beast they were fighting. The hollow is no where to be found behind him and he relax's a bit. "Give me a sec." Yuri places the girl down next to the wall and leans her into a sitting position.

"Thanks." The girl spoke her appreciation to Yuri with half opened eyes. Her tiredness slowly kicking in. "Got to...stay awake."

"Take it easy. We're going to get you a doctor." Yuri assures as he examines her wounds more closely. She grunts a bit and tilts her head to the side. "What is it?"

"It's coming back." She said with a sterner voice than before. The wall a few yards to the right of them suddenly got reduced to rubble. A giant dust cloud appears, obscurring the view of the area for the meantime, but Yuri knew their is more than just the Hollow in there.

After the smoke clears; Repede jumps through with injuries all of his body while covered in his own blood. He collapses moments later on his side as the giant creature drew closer moves into view across the debris.

Yuri dashes across the path and towards the hollow that stretches its arms out to claim its victim. Yuri didn't let him by slashing downward at the hollows arms. It didn't do much damage like before, but it distracted the creature long enough for Yuri to roll around to Repede's side and grab him. Yuri dashes around the hollow in circles while it is still confused to Yuri can make it over to the woman.

He places Repede's wounded body down next to the girl and takes the moment to examine him. His body is covered in gashes and cuts; his fur is all frazzled which shows that he has been fighting the Hollow for a while now. "Take it easy buddy. I got this." Repede only replies back with a soft whine; which tells just how much strength he has left.

Yuri looks over to the girl next to him and speaks. "Hey you know a way to beat this thing?" Her face grew grim while the creature grew closer. "I'll take that as a yes, but there is a BIG but in that."

"Listen." The girl's first word got Yuri's undivided attention. "That thing is called a hollow as you probably already know now. You can't fight that with conventional means. Only-" She makes a small gulp before continuing. "Soul Reapers, like myself, can fight against it. I can give you some of my power so you can fight it in my place. But in order to do that-" She takes out her sword and points it at Yuri's stomach. "You need to stab yourself with this. Once then a portion of my power should transfer to you and you can fight."

Yuri simply stares at her blankly in complete disbelief at what he just heard. A part of him wanted to slap himself to see if he is actually awake, but the look in the girls eyes told him a different story. The girls eyes were stern and confident; she is dead serious right now.

Yuri took the moment to look to him right to see the oncoming Hollow. He looks to be approaching slowly; as if allowing Yuri and company the time they want knowing that it made no difference to it. The hollow must believe that the end result will be the same regardless. To Yuri, if he doesn't step up, the Hollow would be right.

Yuri looks back to the girl and gives her a sly smirk. Her next expression is that of confusion while still keeping the serious outlook. "Well, I see it this way, I can't fight it with what I have now. If this really will allow me to fight it great. Otherwise if I die from stabbing myself...at least it's better than getting eaten alive." The girl knew that Yuri was in disbelief earlier, but watching him accept it so easily now is a bit nerve-racking to her. Any other person would simply run for the hills, but Yuri is not like other guys.

"Quite the hand i got from a scrappy deck." Instantly, Yuri reaches for the blade and drove it into himself; hoping that this chance would actually work. "Time to

In that moment, a surge of energy bursts from Yuri's body and the Hollow is blown back with a powerful gush of spiritual energy. The energy itself envelops Yuri out of view and a twister of that same energy forms itself. It only took a good ten seconds before the twister dissapates and reveals Yuri kneelling down on one knee in the same attire that the girl is wearing. Spiritual energy can be physically seen leaking from Yuri's body as he rises from the ground to stand.

The girl felt groggy and her eyes were shut, but she had the energy to look up and see what is happening. Her eyes couldn't get any wider in shock than they did now. "N-No way. I just meant to give him a portion of strength, but instead he sucked out every last drop of mine!" The girl exclaimed while Yuri stood completely straight.

The Hollow wastes no more time and starts charging forward. It attempts to slash across Yuri's midsection with one of it's huge arms. Yuri smriks quickly and simply raises his blade vertically to block the strike just as fast as his smile. The Hollow impacts the blade and a burst of energy explodes from the collision. The Hollow falls back with a bleeding hand and the ground they stood on cracks apart, but Yuri still stood completly unfazed by the attack.

"Unreal!" Yuri exclaims rather softly in amazement.

The Hollow got back up and charges again in rage by throwing it's entire weight at Yuri. Yuri moves at speeds he thought impossible around the hollow to evade the charge at him and slashes off the hollow's arms effortlessly. The Hollow fliew over where Rukia and Repede are lying and falls face first into the pavement. The Creature gurgles and roars in pain as it fumbles around to stand again.

"Save your breath you poor excuse of a monster. I'll end you now!" Yuri proclaims as he dashes quickly to the Hollow's location.

Yuri leaps into the air once he drew close enough and falls towards the hollow's neckline with his blade. All it took is two quick swips in a cross formation and not only did the creature lose it's head, but it also got cut vertically in half. The body of the hollow begins to dissapate once Yuri's feat meet the ground and the hollow's head vanishes last.

Once then Yuri stabs his sword in the ground and lifts his hand to see his palm. He clenches it and re-opens it to get a feel of his new power flowing in his body. "Wow, this is amazing! I haven't felt like this ever before!" Yuri turns to the face the girl and walk up to her; feeling proud of his accomplishment and the satisfaction of going all out like he used to back in the old days.

Alas, this a celebration that got cut short. Yuri starts to feel a swelling in his sternum. Yuri fumbles around on his feet to keep himself from falling down; not understanding what exactly is causing his affliction. He eventually succumbs to it and falls on his knees while clcnching the location of his pain with his hand. It didn't take long after for Yuri to fall on his side and lose himself into sub-conciousness.

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**The Next Morning, Yuri's Apartment**

The sun rose the next morning and light begins to fill Yuri's room; giving a warm shine to all the objects inside. Yuri himself is lying in his bed dressed in his usual garments. The sun's beam slowly creep over to Yuri's face; warming it with more color and energy. Thhe moment the sun reaches it's eyes Yuri felt the beckoning call to wake up.

Yuri's eyes slowly open with a refreshing feeling rushing over his body. He feels re-energized from a good nights sleep and stretches himself out a bit in his bed. "Was that a dream?" Yuri questions what occured during the night, or rather what he believes to be last night. Yuri sits up and looks around him. Everything is still in place just as he left him; until he looks to his side to see something out of place.

Yuri discovers the girl he met before, now garbed in a one piece white silk dress cut right at the knees, sleeping next to him cuddling with Yuri's pillow. Yuri took a moment to register everything in the few seconds that pass until he finally let out a laugh.

"Well. That sure clears things up quite nicely." Yuri cheerfully says to himself. He rises from his bed and looks to his right where Repede's bed would be. The poor canine is bandaged up pretty good that covers a good deal of his body. Yuri knew for that what occured in that night really happened.

The raven-haired swordsman strolls over to Repede and kneels beside him. He gently runs his fingers across the dogs brow to examine his health. His fur is a bit frazzled, but his companion is in good health now with his fever gone and injuries taken care of.

With his worries aside now that he knows both the girl and Repede are safe, Yuri rises from where his is kneeling and strolls outside his apartment. He sits himself down on the top steps of the two story building and looks forward to the river that runs down the Lower quarter. The fountain would be a quaint place to sit and relax a bit, but the river will do just fine for him. Yuri didn't want to stray too far from the individuals that reside in his home.

Yuri leans back and lies flat on the ground at the top of the steps; looking up to the clear sky above. A peaceful moment after a strange hardship he endured. The peace was subtly ended when Yuri heard a click from his door; telling him that it is bieng opened. "Well it seems that sleeping beauty has awoken from her slumber. Had a nice nap?" Yuri asked knowing for a fact that it is the girl from earlier.

"Very funny." The gril replies back with a tone that reminded Yuri of Rita, which gives him a nostalgic feeling of worry; even though he knows no fire balls will fly around. She strolls over to Yuri's side and plots herself down next to him. "You sure are taking things easy considering what you've been through."

"I'm alive aren't I? Why shouldn't I be happy about it?" Yuri said. The girls eyes give off a blank stare before turning away and facing forward.

"Thank you, I'm Rukia Kuchiki." The girl said to Yuri and reaches out to him with her hand; expecting a hand-shake.

"Pleasure, my name's Yuri Lowell." Yuri replied back, sits up, and accepts the hand in front of him. He releases his grip soon after and got up from where he is sitting. "So what now? Do I stab you with your sword to give back your power or-"

"Sorry, but your going to take responsibility. You sucked out every ounce of my power so I can't get it back now." Rukia notified Yuri of the details about what kind of development.

Yuri is partially confused, but also happy. This power he has now is nothing like he ever felt before; even when using a bohdi blastia. The refreshing feeling of having his old strength back and more makes the veteren swordsman overjoyed to fight like he used to again.

"Wait, what you mean by take responsibility?" Yuri just registered the first part of Rukia's statement.

"As a Soul reaper it was my duty to slay hollows and depart lost souls back to Soul Society. I will explain the rest later but right now because of what happened…you have to take my place." Rukia can tell from Yuri's black expression that he has no idea what she just said to him and is downright lost. RUkia took the time now instead of late to explain a bit more in detail on what Rukia does and what is expected of Yuri now that he has her power.

"So…basically you guide the souls of the dead and deal with the hollows to keep things in check. That's it in a nut shell right?" Yuri summerized everything that Rukia had told him. Which surprised Rukai a bit because she didn't think he would so quickly.

"Well there is more to it then that, but yeah that sum's it up pretty much." She replies. Rukia gets up from her seat and walks in Yuri's apartment; beckoning him to follow.

Yuri enters as well and speaks. "So how do I get back into those clothes you were in before?"

Rukia pulls out a red glove with a skull on it from a pouch she has strapped to her side and slips it on. Without warning she slams her palm upon Yuri's face and shouts, "Like this!" The next thing that occurs is Yuri feeling like he is bieng torn away from something as Rukia pushes Yuri back. When she backs away from him he sees himself wearing the hakama she wore before, but his own body was laying in front of him on the ground. Yuri staggers back a bit in shock. "Now get back into it."

"Pardon?" Yuri asked; not understanding exactly what's going on.

"You're in Soul Form right now, that's your body in front of you. Right now if you went walking around only people with a strong connection to the supernatural would be able to see you."

"So basically with the way I am now, I'm almost like a ghost." Yuri theorized.

"That's a crude way of putting it, but it fits," She responded.

"So how exactly do I get back into my body?" Yuri asked while pointing to his limp body on the ground. He has no clue as to what is going on anymore and needs to be guided through this

She sighs; figuring that she is bieng too general with Yuri and forgetting this is all new to him. "It's like fitting into a costume really, just put your feet on your body's shoulders and your body will do the rest for you."

"All right, that doesn't seem too complicated," Yuri said. It is easier than it sounded. In a few moments after Yuri stepson his body, Yuri found himself sinking into his body. He blacks out for a moment and a cold feeling flows through his head and he regains vision from his actual body. Yuri rises and stretches out a bit. To feel the transition from his soul to his body. "Beauitiful."

"Great," Rukia said as she walks out the door and strools down the hall. Yuri chases after her. "Be right back."

"Where are you going to go now?" I asked her.

"I have some errands I need to run," she looked around the hallway, "Are any of these rooms vacant?" she asked.

"Some of them should be," I said. "You can ask the owner in the pub downstairs. Tell her I sent you."

"Good. I'll see you in the afternoon Yuri," she waved and headed down the hallway.

"Yeah see ya," Yuri mutters in displeasure in how she dismissed herself. The swordsman turns around, enter his apartment, and closes the door behind him. He makes his way to his bed and sits down again. _This is totally nuts, _Yuri is telling myself, _This whole guiding souls of the dead thing seems like it'll be a huge pain in the rear, it's not like I got anything better to do with my life at the moment though but still. _Yuri thought about things for a moment and then continues, _Tomorrow I should probably learn some more about Rukia and this whole responsibility I'm undertaking, there's too much I don't know and probably quite a bit that I should...Maybe i should ask her how she knew where my house was in the first place as well._


	2. The Chaos Begins

**A/N And thus another chapter is born, Rukia has entered Terca Lumires and met Yuri Lowell in when she was fighting a hollow. Now Yuri has to help her now since he now has all of her powers. How will these fare for him?**

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**Yuri's POV**

I woke up the next morning back in my good-old body and my usual clothing again. _Man last night was crazy_. I thought to myself as I get out of bed. Repede is sleeping soundly in the bed next to mine in a curled up position. I rose from my bed to sit next to Repede. I pet his head to wake him up. He gets up slowly and stretches out to relieve himself of tiredness.

"You feel alright Repede?" I asked. He replies back with a soft back. As i stood up; Repede proceeds to walk out the door of the apartment and down the hallway where Rukia's temporary room is located. I follow slowly from behind to see Repede scratching the door gently. This is an odd behavior to me since Repede almost never takes the initiative to find someone. I can only assume that he developed a sort of fondness to Rukia. Now that wasn't suprising, She is a kid after all, or i think she is. Rukia opens the door and walks out wearing some bed robes with a toothbrush in her mouth. I remained hidden from them just to see what Repede is up to.

She removes the toothbrush and kneels down to Repede's level. "Repede!" Rukia cheers with glee as she pets my canine friendon his head. "How are you doing boy." She smiles for a second, stood up to close the door, and sits down with her back against the wall. Repede sits next to her. "Where is Yuri?" Repede yawns as if still tired and moves to place his head upon Rukia's lap. "Aw, you may be a tough dog but you're as cute as a puppy." She starts scratching the back of Repede's ears; which Repede seems to like as his face shows the feeling of comfort.

I decided to make my appearance since they seem to be getting along. She turns her head to see me standing next to her. "Oh, there you are. I was just talking to Repede here, you have a great companion." Rukia praised. Repede stood up for Rukia to start snuggling him like a big pillow.

"Yeah well Repede usually does not like strangers, but he enjoys pretty girls…and kids." I said chuckling a little at the sight of Rukia cuddling with Repede.

"Oh? Then why do you think likes me so much now huh?" She questioned with a smirk.

"If I were to say, it would be because you look like a kid to him. I mean, you are a kid after all...right?" Even i knew that it is rude to ask a woman her age, but i thought i was subtle enough with that statement.

"I have you know that I'm-" Rukia stops short and stops petting Repede, as if she had a secret or something. I probably wasn't as subtle as i thought or something. "Never mind."

"What?" I inquired trying to find out the rest of her statement.

"I'll tell you later, now is not the best time to tell you when you don't know much about what I do or what I am." She stated. She got up from where she is sitting. "Now, how about we get some breakfast since we are awake?"

"Sure let's go downstairs and we can get something to eat." I looked the other way so i could point to the direction of the place. "The person that runs the restaurant below taught me how to cook so we have known each other for a while. I'm pretty sure we can get a decent meal." I turned back around and saw that her eyes started to gleam with stars shining in them. "Um…let's get going then shall we?" I said Rukia, Repede, and I proceed to go down the stairs and over to the entrance of the restaurant.

* * *

**Flynn's POV (Imperial Castle)**

It is sheer havoc within the castle walls right now as the casualties continue to pile up by the day with the unknown assailant on the loose. Knights were running amok around the castle outside of my room wondering what should be done. Even i am baffled to the point of speechlessness. However, even with the death's piling up, I have difficulty in believing that it was the work of a human that killed these people. The bodies were covered with claw marks and deep wounds that normally couldn't be gained when getting hit by a sword, spear or any type of weapon made by human hands. If it was Yuri that was investigating he wouldn't care about such details. He just go out and hunt the guy one way or another. I sighed,_ Times like these I envy Yuri sometimes. How can someone be so carefree like him anyway?_ I thought to myself.

I left my room in the castleto go toward's Estelle's room; it was on the other side of the castle so the walk is pretty nice to clear my thoughts a bit. When I got there I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Suddenly a knight approached from behind. He salutes me before speaking.

"Commandant, is there any need of my services?" The knight spoke with a echo bouncing inside his helmet.

"Well I am wondering where miss Estelle is at this time. I was hoping to speak with her." I replied back.

"It seems you have forgotten sir, Sodia went with Estelle to Halure not to long ago on a trip as always. She shouldn't be back until the next three days." The knight replied while remaining in attention.

_At a time like this she decides to go out when a serial killing is going on? _I sighed, feeling a bit silly for not remembering where she went. Although she runs around so much that it's hard to keep track of her; no surpise there. _I truly wish that she would at least stay put for a while longer so I can be at ease, although the idea that my Lieutenant is with her right now does give me some relief. _I thought while sending the soldier away; leaving me alone. _Maybe I should go look for Yuri; he always has some way to give me advice in the weirdest ways_. I chuckle and went off on my own again.

* * *

**Yuri's POV**

I have been sitting here in the restaurant with Rukia for a while as she continues eating her food. Repede is sitting in between me and Rukia under the table. I already finished eating my food so I'm just trying to wrap my head in all that she told me moments ago. _So Rukia is a Shinigami that came from Soul Society to purge souls and send them back there. At the same time she is to also fight and eliminate Hollows that appear in the area she is assigned to. When outside my body and fighting Hollows no one but people with a good connection with Souls or spiritual power can see me. Rukia gave me all her power by mistake and now I have to take over for her to complete her duties she has to perform. _"Sounds simple enough."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Rukia asked with perplexed face.

"What you explained to me earlier. I got the gist of it…more or less. So I should be ok for now. Just one question, and i know this is a bit wrong to ask, but how old are you really?"

"For one yes it is, but i understand why you need to ask. To answer you question I lost count at around 150." She asnswered with a straight-forward voice.

"Wow, 150 huh, that's pretty cool that you could live that long."

"You're taking things a lot easier than people would normally would. Why is that?" She questioned; probably feeling a bit uneasy by my behavior.

"Well I've known older things than you. Although they weren't exactly human I got used to it anyway." I asnswered in the same manner as Rukia did earlier. "Also you said that people that can see spirits can also see hollows correct?"

"Yes, why?"

"That just means that some of my subordinates can see hollows as well as me. We dealt with the idea of spirits before." I informed her.

"Really?" Rukia eyes widen a bit to the news. "SO are you going to tell them what happened?"

"We aren't telling them anything. I was only able to fight them because you gave me your power. I would rather not make them worry about this if they can't do anything about it right?" I spoke a bit more sternly in hopes that Rukia could see my point and to take me a little more seriously. "So for now we say nothing."

Rukia gave off a sigh of discontent. "You sure about this? If they can see spirits then they can interact with them as well. Either way they are going to find them one way or another."

"Well I am going to be cleaning up shop right?" I grin mischievoulsly. "Besides, obviously there are more of them before and Soul Society has been doing this for eons. But trust me on this. If they feel like they can't fight at all then they will only feel worse than before. It's best that they don't know what I'm doing." I sit back and start to scratch the back of my head. "Which now i ask this, why is it that there is trouble with the hollows now of all times?" Before Rukia could even asnswer my question; a gleam hit the side of my eye which forced me to turn away. I sprung up knowing whose coming.

"What is it Yuri?" Rukia questioned. Several soldiers came running in after that and in seconds I see my old friend walking in casually as usual to me. "This is-"

"Well, if it isn't the heroic knight that saves the day time and again. How you doing Flynn?" I teased.

"First off enough with the awkward commentary from you every time I arrive, and two we need to talk…alone if that's possible." He asked smiling brightly. I can tell by the way he is smiling that he is trying to be as subtle about this as possible. I knew in that second that something serious is going on, even more so if he has come running over to me.

"Fine, meet me outside the city in an hour and then we will talk; right now I'm busy at the moment." I replied and a grin of my own.

"Alright, you better keep your word mister _Dark Enforcer_." Flynn shot back. Now i know he is just playing me with his words.

"Hey, what's with the names you been giving me. Sure we don't go with the same ideas of justice but at least we get things done regardless." I replied back with a cheery tone. In the end we both ended up laughing at each other in our conversation as we kept throwing out random names at each other. _Its days like these that always give me a good feeling. Then again I always have these moments with everyone._ "Anyway see you around." I turn to Rukia who is continuously petting Repede. "See you guy's back here later. If you need _anything_ then come find me." I put the emphasis on the word anything to signal them if there was a hollow attack to come get me immediately. Afterwards, I left the restaurant to the plaza of the lower quarter and then out the back entrance of the city where I am supposed to meet Flynn in an hour.

* * *

**Rukia's POV**

"So, you're Yuri's friend huh?" I asked the tall, blonde knight standing next to me. He raised his hand to wave at me with a smile. He takes a seat in front of me and places his sword down next to his chair,

"Yes, my name is Flynn Scifo. Although I think any citizen in the area would know me by now." Flynn replied.

"Well I just got into town so I don't know much around here. Since Yuri is doing his thing maybe you can give me a tour?" I asked innocently enough. He bought it and nodded his head while standing up.

"Well I have time now, so it will be my honor to show you around." He extended his hand to me which I took hold of; allowing him to pull me up. "Repede may as well come along to, he seems to be in good terms with you."

"Yeah, now then mister knight let's be on our way."

"Very well." He holds onto my hand like a gentleman would. "This way please."

* * *

**Yuri's POV**

It's been only fifteen minutes since I got here and I'm already bored. All I have been doing is staring up into the sky as I lie my back on the grass outside of the city walls. I usually have Repede to keep me company, but i left him with Rukia so I have to be alone. I got up and decided to practice with my sword swings for a bit to past the time. Also for a little warm-up since now i will be in the hollow busting buisness. _Makes me feel like i belong to the Hunter's guild more. _After a while I felt something different as I swing my sword. It's as if the was a invisible force flowing in my blade and making it sharper.

"That's really odd." I said to myself. I decided to experiment and swung my sword forward. "Azure Edge!" I cried out sending out a blast of energy from my sword. It was several times more powerful then even when I was usiing a blastia. I got so excited that I continued to use all my attacks that I learned from the traveling I did a long time ago. "This is awesome! Yeah!" I continued to go out of control and let loose all my artes in rapid succesion in every direction.

Moments after I calmed down to realize that I completely destroyed the area around me. Even the walls themselves of the town were scorched a bit. "Guess I over did it." I said out loud to myself with a cheerful disposition; even if i knew that i would be in a heap of trouble for this. I never felt like this before and I want to continue, But then Flynn shows up. Before he spoke to me he examines the field and walls around us.

"Yuri, what happened? What did you do this time?" Flynn asked scratching the side of his head.

"What, just getting some R&R right now, although I do admit that I went overboard." I replied with a sweat drop. We both chuckled a bit before he responded.

"Well, anyway I want to get straight to the point. You see-"

"It's about the homicides that have been happening right?" I interrupted knowing exactly what he is about to bring up. His face turns a little as if in felt ashamed.

"Yes, but how did you know that I was going to ask you that?" Flynn asked.

"C'mon Flynn, we've known each other for how long now. I should be able to read you like an open book at this point." I replied back with a grin.

"Wish I could say the same about myself to you. Anyway, yes I am here concerning that. Right now the knights are having trouble with this and even I'm overwhelmed."

"Well why bring this to my attention?" I inquired further while placing my hand on my hip to show that I want the details now. "I would, in your words, _get out of control_."

"Well you see, It's not about you." Flynn assured. "Estelle had gone to Halure again with my Lieutenant. With that known I can't be fully calm about it. I'm not asking you to go and chase after her; I just wanted you to know ahead of time just in case things go bad." Flynn explained.

"Well that's fine. As long as she isn't in the city then she should be fine, seeing that the city is the only place that's having problems." I said with a pleased tone.

"As long as you know then I'm alright; at least i know she will somehow be looked after when i'm not around. Anyway that girl I was with said something about meeting you outside the apartment where she is staying. She appears to be concerned about something." He told me.

_I did say that if there is anything then she should go look for me. Oh well, I guess I'll head back then._ "I see, thanks for the heads up but now I have to run."

"Alright then, see you later Yuri." He replied back as I run away and he waves in my direction. With such an overload of Hollow's pumping in this city i would have to guess that they are what's causing the murders. Looks likeit's time for me to go to work

* * *

**20 minutes later**

I made it all the way to my apartment with Rukia standing in front of my door. As I drew closer she held up a strange device in front of her.

"This is my soul pager; it tells me if there is a Hollow attacking somewhere." She closed it and then punched me directly in the chest with her glove, shoving out my soul from my body. It then fell on top of Repede and he brings it to my room. "Right now there is a hollow attack so let's get moving." She runs off down the stairs with me following from behind.

After running through some big buildings and alley ways, we found our target. I was a big snake like creature and the mask had two horns protruding from the forehead while curving in a crescent shape. The rest of the mask was blank save for the mouth. "Alright then, this guy is weak but it should suffice for a practice run. Now listen closely…" Rukia began to explain all these different things about hollows, Shinigami powers, and a bunch of related subjects while I hold my own against it, and when I mean hold my own I mean not to kill it too quickly yet. After she finished explaining everything and tested every other ability I can muster. I was ready to deal the final blow.

"Azure Edge!" With a battle cry I swung my sword and unleashed a shockwave of energy dead center into the hollows mask and shattered it to pieces. "Huh, I got a little worked up." I said to myself lightheartedly. I could hear Rukia clapping in the background as she drew closer.

"Good work, you are progressing quickly even though you just got these powers." She praised.

"Well this was more of an exercise then a practice run. I have been fighting since I was a kid so of course I would be good with a sword." I explained to her with some pride in my fighting ability. "Now are we done here? There is a bed at home calling to me and I don't want to keep it waiting." I said jokingly. She gave a small smile with half-closed eyes as if she was content with what happened.

"Yes, we are done. There are no hollows in the area...for now at least" Her smile dropped showing that she has something else to say. "But are you sure that you don't want the others to know? I mean, since there has been an increase of hollows in the area."

"No I'm sure, the last thing I want to do is give everyone more trouble than they already have. Other then my friend Judith, no one in my group can fight at the level we used to anymore. Now I will see you back home then. Goodnight."

"Yeah, goodnight." Rukia said as I run off back to the lower quarter.

* * *

**A/N And thus ends another chapter of Crossing Moons. Yuri has already got the feeling of being a shinigami. But what is up with the random killings going on. Also, If you haven't caught on this is taking place after the events of the fight against Duke. Since there is no blastia that can be used then that means everyone's power is diminishedYou will just have to wait for chapter three. Review, Subscribe, or Fav please.**


	3. A Threat Looms Outside the Border

**A/N I have nothing to say. Read on my people, read on.**

* * *

**Third Person View (City of Halure)**

It is night time now and the tree that was set in the center of the town is blooming again. It glows brightly to cut away at he darkness of night. Its branches extending past the city limits make it seem as if it was a beacon to parts unknown for the rest of the world.

Estelle is seen sitting in a circle of children, telling her fairy tales as usual. The kids are dancing, playing, and praising with joy with each passing moment with being with Estelle. Sodia comes into view and walks up to Estelle casually. Estelle sprouts up from where she is sitting and runs up to her very excitingly. Sodia kept her calm composure as usual and let Estelle get her energy out before talking.

"Sodia, you have to sit and join us! I'm sure you would enjoy it!" Estelle said joyfully. Sodia smiled slightly but shook her head in disapproval.

"I'm sorry Estelle. But we got to get ready to go tomorrow. Our trip back to Zaphias will take the entire day so we should get going." Sodia explained to her. Estelle lost her cheerfulness and looks back at the kids who were waiting patiently for her. She walks up to them slowly and sits in front of one kid.

"Lady Estelle, are you going to tell another story?" The boy asked.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go back now. Maybe next week when I have more time I will get the chance to tell you more?" Estelle replied back with a soft smile. The boy pouts his head along with the other children.

"Aw." The children said in unison. Estelle got up and walked back to Sodia who has been waiting for her to go back to the Inn.

"Well, ready to go?" Estelle asked. Sodia nodded her head, but Estelle hastily gripped Sodia's hand and runs down the slope leading to the Inn. "C'mon lets hurry so I can tell you some stories too!" She shouted happily.

"W-Wait a minute Estelle, I appreciate the offer but you ARE GOING TO FAST!" Sodia shouted as they continue to go faster down the slope.

* * *

**Yuri's POV**

It was in the middle of the night with Repede sitting on top of the roof of my apartment, scouting out for any danger while Rukia is asleep. It's strange when Rukia told me that Repede had developed a sensory to hollows in the area better than her soul pager did. At first I was stunned, but now I'm actually content. Because of this Rukia can sleep a little easier knowing that she doesn't have to be awake so often anymore. Less stress off her back. I however have to stay up for the night even though I'm lying down on my bed in my apartment. All I do now is look out the window and hope for something to happen. Not the greatest job to do but when I need to get rolling I'm there in a hurry. _Can't help the fact that I get bored can I?_

"Woof!" Repede barked queitly and to let me know of someone approaching. When I look outside I see Raven approaching the apartment from afar. We met eye contact from a good distance and he waved to me. He then dashed over here with incredible speed and got to my windowsill in seconds. He leaps up from the ground and sit's next to me while doing a back flip.

"Well it seems you still got energy to burn old man." I joked

"Very funny, now I got to tell you something." Raven stated to me with his right eye closed which made me realize that he is being serious with me now while still keeping his usual tone.

"Go on."

"Well after hanging around the knights I have come across some news that Estelle will be returning tomorrow night. Flynn is pulling off this big welcoming mat for her and he was hoping that he could get your help." Raven began to explain to me. "It's really so that whoever is behind all these murders to stay away. After all, no one is stupid enough to cause trouble at a public event with so many knights swarming around.

"True that." I chuckled.

"As for me, I get to go scout the bridge that leads to this area to make sure that it's clear for travel. That way out little princess can cross safely, I may however come along with her on the way back."

"Well at least you're being put to work." I said sarcastically.

"Yeah, and since Judith and Karol are out on a guild mission they left me here to rot with you. I feel my old bones withering-"

"Don't say it like that, especially since you are sort of correct." I interrupted. My comment was actually serious instead of me joking. He took it to heart though.

"Hehe, thanks for being a pal and reminding me about it. It's good to know that you guys still care." Raven remarked scratching his fuzzy side burns. "Anyway that's all I have to report." He stands up, salutes me, and then jumps down back to the street. "See you around, I'm going to get a head start. Besides it will be morning in about an hour anyway." He runs off in the other direction he came from to the city exit. Meanwhile, Repede went to wake Rukia up since dawn is coming. In a few minutes Rukia was wide awake and dressed in a violet short sleeved shirt and a hazel skirt that dropped to her knees. She always walks into my room unannounced.

"You know, you could knock sometimes." I said to her earnestly.

"Well I figured a guy like you wouldn't really care. Anyway is there anything I should know during my time of sleeping?" She asked crossing her arms. I proceeded to tell her everything that I talked about with Raven. All she did was nod her head and took out her soul pager. She presses a few buttons, closes it, and puts it back in her pocket. "Well then we shouldn't just stand here now should we. Let's go help prepare for the whole thing."

"Well ok then. I'll go meet up with Flynn now so you and Repede go get yourselves all prepy by the entrance." I told them. I got up and leapt out the window of my apartment and down to the streets and made my way to the castle where Flynn is supposed to be.

* * *

**Midday**

I am now standing with my back on the wall to watch the entrance for when Estelle arrives in the next few hours. The streets have been cleared of everything and everyone while the lamppost has been decorated accordingly with the petals of Halure's tree. The guards stood like a border beside the streets to prevent anyone from crossing. I stayed out of the crowd so I don't get caught up in the oncoming chaos of gratitude of her arrival. Even though it shouldn't be a big deal that her coming back would promote this since she made this trip many times before, I still am getting excited about this regardless.

I walk over to the edge of town to lean against the railing while staring out into the distance of the meadows that stretched for miles. Repede is parked next to me and even he enjoyed the view. However our moment of tranquility had died as Repede stood at attention and begins to growl fiercely towards the meadow. "What is it Repede?" He then begins to bark fiercely. Moments later I felt an ominous presence in the distance. "Oh no." I muttered softly in fear. It felt familiar somehow but I didn't want to think much on the details. All I know was that it was a hollow and I need to kill it. I got up and ran to the direction of the hollows location. "Repede, go and get Rukia right away!" I ordered.

"Woof Woof!" Repede acknowledged while running back into the city. I knew that I wasn't in soul form but even so I can still fight it the way I am. I'm not as powerful as before though so I have o be more cautious until Rukia gets to me. Although I was hoping I could kill it without getting out of my actual body.

* * *

**Estelle's POV**

We aree closing in to the bridge that connects to the meadows which lead to Zaphias by using a carriage. Once we pass over it we will only be about an hour away from getting to the city. Even by riding in this carriage it will still take a while, especially with the escort of the knights and Sodia walking alongside it.

* * *

**Raven's POV**

I am stationed at the bridge right now with a legion of knights at both ends of the bridge. I'm pretty sure that no one would dare to attack this place now, but suddenly I felt a dangerous aura around the area and it gave me a bit of a worrying thought that we may run into trouble. Thankfully the other knights didn't notice so I shrugged it off and got focused for Estelle's arrival.

* * *

**Yuri's POV**

I am closing in towards my target very fast by running at high speeds. Eventually I came across a huge hill and I decided to just leap over it. Once I was in mid-air I looked down and saw my target. It had elongated arms and legs extending from its body like a spider except it had four limbs and not eight. His claws extended 2 feet from his arms and he used it to support himself up since he was on all four. His mask is completely clean of features besides the one eye hole for his left eye and the mouth. After I landed I drew my sword and stood at my combat position as usual to take it on. "Alright, let's deal with you quickly." It was strange though, that this hollow felt not just more powerful, but familiar to.

"Ah, Yuri Lowell!" The hollow screamed out in a high-pitched sound. A voice I had never forgotten.

A cold feeling flowed through my body when i heard it's words. I froze in place, but i still managed to speak. "Wait…it can't be!" I questioned with my eyed gaping open.

"Oh but it is Yuri." He said as he walks a bit closer. "I have come back once more to play with you! That really was cruel of you to kill me like that." The hollow said with a malicious tone.

"Zagi! But you died!" I exclaimed. However my thoughts clicked when I remembered something that Rukia told me. If a soul has regrets or becomes attached to the world in a strong manner, then the soul becomes a Plus and eventually turns into a hollow. At least that was what Rukia explained to me. "Damn it why can't you just…never mind even now you're the same as before so I'll just kill you again!" My shock flutters away once i got the ability to move again. I leapt forward and readied for an attack. "This time for good!" I swung around and slashed at him with Azure Edge. However he blocks with his left claw and proceeds to try and stab me with his other one. I leapt to the right to dodge the frontal assault and after dodging I unleashed another Azure Edge. He blocks that to.

"Yuri, I've gotten stronger just for you. I'm going to cut you into pieces, and then I'll devour you!" Zagi announces as he uses his elongated legs and flung himself at me. I jumped up to avoid him, but he made a sudden stop and swerves his foot around. He delivers a kick into my side which causes me to tumble onto the ground with a thud. I got up in a split second and jumped away before he could follow up with another forward stab. I run up to him to take the chance for a strike. I took a small leap and did a barrel roll in mid-air.

"Destruction Field!" I slammed my sword down on top of him and shoved him into the ground with a large blast of energy that came after the impact. I pushed myself off with my sword and landed a few yards away. This battle would be a bit easier if i could be in soul form. Fighting right now is somehow harder then before.

Zagi was struggling to get up since the attack was directly on his spinal cord. I didn't give him the chance to recuperate and let out another attack. "Final-" I swished my sword in front of me to create a surge of wind based energy. "GALE!" I swished a second time the opposite way and created a blade of wind in an X-formation that came charging at him at of course the speed of sound. It was a direct hit to the Zagi's chest and he begins to bleed profusely. He goes tumbling down and on his back in a cloud of smoke.

I dash up to deliver the fatal strike, but I got struck down to the ground by Zagi's forearm. It hit me directly in the center of my chest and I got dealt another blow by his incomning leg. I flew back while gasping for breath; those last two attacks did major damage to my body. I got smashed into the wall by the force of the blow and fell face first onto the ground. I struggle to raise my head. I managed to get a view of Zagi getting up and stuttering away from the area. That blow he dealt to me was enough to make me incapable of moving. "Damn, if I was just a bit stronger I could have beaten him. But why is he leaving-" I couldn't finish my sentence as I blacked out.

* * *

**Raven's POV**

For some reason I felt the presence again, it's weaker than before though. The knights once again did not notice that it is around here, but I still am getting worried, especially since the presence is getting closer every second. I got my bow out and ready and the knights reacted by doing the same with their swords.

"Is something the matter Captain Schwan?" One knight asked me with a worried tone.

"Don't know, but stay on guard. I have a bad feeling that we are going to get a field day soon enough."

* * *

**A/N And thus the chapter ends. Yuri, incapable at fighting at full capacity was beaten by Zagi but luck was on his side as Zagi seemingly lost interest. But it seems that now Raven is the on getting the heat now. What will come of this? Review, Fav, Subscribe plz.**


	4. The Petals Wither Away

**A/N The 4****th**** chapter begins with Zagi MIA from Yuri's fight and Raven now encountering trouble. What will happen? Let's find out!**

* * *

**Raven's POV (bridge)**

I am standing straight up at the center of the bridge with my bow ready to fire at a slight movement of any enemy. The knights around me were tense and ready for combat as the ready their spears and swords. Estelle was almost here and now this was happening to make my life all that more difficult. I began to feel some seismic activity below the bridge but then it quieted. Abruptly, a giant arm with claws extending from it smashes through the floor and grabs hold of one of the knights. The arm holds him up a few yards in the air and the knight tries to break loose. I fired several arrows at the arm but it was futile as the knight gets crushed to death by the grip and then dragged down underneath the bridge.

"What the hell was that!" One knight cried out.

"I didn't see anything even holding the guy and yet something is here!" Another yelled. It seemed to me that they could not see it except me. Now there are only four knights left alongside myself. I ran up to the hole in the bridge and cautiously looked down. Nothing was down there, but when I turned around I saw a large purple skinned creature with a white mask rise from the side of the bridge. The corpse of the knight earlier was in its mouth, I could tell because his arm was still not in the mouth all the way. "What the hell!"

"Evacuate the area now! I'll hold it off!" I cried out shooting several arrows to attract its attention to me. However it ignored me and proceeded to grab another knight running in the direction of Zaphias. He crushed him to death as well and devoured him. I stood in horror as he took down each knight one by one until it finally turned to me. It exhaled giving off a foul breath in the air which almost made me spew my guts out. "This is not good; nothing I throw can hurt it at all!" I exclaimed while gritting my teeth and growling. He came closer to me and I changed my bow into a sword.

"Ah, your Raven correct?" the creature said to me with a familiar tone.

"Wait a sec, I know that voice." I remarked to it as it laughed maniacally. He proceeds slowly closer to me.

"Yes, I am Zagi; the one that Yuri killed years ago. I fact I just ran in to him not to long ago." Zagi said to me.

"Wait, then does that mean-"

"Oh no I haven't eaten him yet. You see he seems a bit weak right now and isn't using his full power. So now-" He raises his arms in front of himself ready to lunge. "I'm going to push him to the point where he is at full strength! One way-" He lunges with both claws forward and attempts to impale me. I dodged to the left and slashed vertically to try and cut off his arm, but my attempts where futile as it clanged against its rough skin. I jumped back and changed the sword back to a bow and fired several more arrows before he turned around, however they did nothing to the unstoppable creature as he stood upright. "Is that all you can do against me? How boring."

* * *

**Rukia's POV**

I was rushing to Yuri's location after Repede had gotten to me. To think that a hollow would attack at a time like this and now we're paying for it. I could feel Yuri's presence so I know he isn't dead, but it's weak so he must have fought it already and lost. Not that I'm surprised though, it was a class A hollow and Yuri is not at full strength until he is in soul form. Repede was leading the way to Yuri and after a few minutes we find Yuri face down on the ground unconscious. I ran up to him and lifted him slightly up by the collar of his shirt. I slapped him across the face a few times and he woke up without a hitch.

"W-What? Rukia, about time you showed up." He said getting up on his feet. "Hurry and get me into soul form so I can pursue that Hollow. If I don't stop it then Estelle is sure to be in trouble along with Raven." Yuri said with a passive yet worried tone. I put on my glove with no questions asked and shoved his soul out while Repede caught it. "Thanks, I'll make this quick."

"Wait a second Yuri, this is a class A hollow. Even if he seems like the others you fought I can tell you that your mistaken. He's stronger, much stronger than you know." I explained to him earnestly.

"I know." He replied with his back turned to me, ready to leave at a split second. "I already fought him once, I know what to expect." He dashes off to parts unknown. I ran off in the same direction to see if I can still be of some assistance while Repede brings Yuri's body back.

* * *

**Raven's POV**

This wasn't a good scenario that I was in. Zagi had the upper hand and Estelle's carriage can be seen in in the distance behind me. If I don't finish this soon than Estelle will be in grave danger, especially since this guy's target is Yuri. I can't do any damage the way I'm fighting now and soon enough he's going to kill me. He lunge his claw forward but I leaped up and landed on his arm. I ran up and delivered a slash directly to his face. But once again it clanged against his dense body and he flung me off to the side. I back flipped and landed several feet away while panting heavily. "Seems that I can't fight him like this. I guess there really isn't much choice here."

"What are you squabbling about over there? If you don't move I'm gonna kill you!" Zagi exclaimed while running up to me.

* * *

**Third Person View**

Raven pulls back on his bow as Zagi continues to rush forward. He aims carefully and stands firm where he is. Zagi leaped up from the ground and began to move his leg to swipe at Raven. A surge of energy then began to spew from his body as a shockwave blew out and caused Zagi to lose balance.

"Fury Blast!" Raven called out as he let out a barrage of high powered arrows to Zagi. They all impacted him directly into his chest and was forced to tumble over as he dented the bridge with his back. Zagi rose again and looked over to Raven, he was giving off a yellow aura from his body and even his eyes began to glow. "I'm giving it my all, prepare yourself!" Raven notices that Zagi was wounded on his chest and started to bleed. "It seems that I can get a hit on you. Now I have a chance!"

"Hah, I'm bleeding?" Zagi questioned as he tucked his head down to the ground. Zagi then proceeded to laugh hysterically as he sprouts his body upright and stands completely straight. His body stood 3 stories tall from the ground. He looks down at Raven and sneers sinisterly. "Good, devouring you will definitely be worth it."

"I made him mad huh? No problem then, I'll just kill you quickly!" Raven exclaimed, lunging forward with his bow back into a sword. He swished it across the large creature's chest and managed a wound there. Zagi jumped back and smashed his claw onto the bridge, completely destroying it. Raven bounced across the rubble and charged directly at the hollow's chest again and tackled him down to the ground. Raven then pinned him down to keep Zagi from moving. Raven stands on the center of the creatures stomach and kneels down on it while clenching the blastia where his heart should be. "I don't have enough time anymore. I'm a dead man anyway, but at least I'll take you with me!" A surge of energy then begins to radiate a bright red color as he clenches harder. "There goes my life, ALL OF IT!" He releases his grip and stretches his arms outward. "BLAST HEART!" The light completely engulfs Raven and an explosion came right after as a pillar of red energy spikes up and cuts through the clouds above him from where he stood and covered several meters of the area.

* * *

**Estelle's POV**

I looked out the caravan after seeing a bright light at the distance coming from the bridge. I knew that light very well, it was Raven's. I had sinking feeling in my stomach as I continued to watch. I turned to Sodia and she was feeling the same as me. I turned back and faced the driver. "Please hurry, a friend of mine is in danger!" I pleaded to the driver. We then began to speed up to get to the area faster.

* * *

**Raven's POV**

The blast was so powerful that it even knocked me away a few meters. I got up and saw that the bridge had been completely destroyed as the smoked cleared away from the area. I was stuttering back and forth and eventually I fell down on my front and remained motionless. I couldn't move and it was getting very hard to breath. I coughed continuously as I struggled to move even my fingers. I managed to lift my head up a bit to see in front of me. What I saw past the cloud of dust was the silhouette of Zagi who seemed to be unharmed, but tired. "D-Dammit." I cursed under my breath weakly. I felt him pick me up from the back of my color until we were at eye level.

"You're not worth eating anymore, that last attack drained you of everything. You are going to die regardless." He swung the arm back that held on to me. "But do it somewhere else!" He tossed me away from the area across the river until I landed a half-a-mile away from his location. I was laying down on my back as I stared up to the nights sky aimlessly until I lost the strength to even keep my eyes open and they shut close slowly.

"So this is how my tale ends huh. Oh well, it's been fun Yuri, don't go dying now."

* * *

**Estelle's POV**

My carriage arrived just now to the bridge, or what was left of it. The entire area was battle damaged and no one can be seen anywhere. However, to my surprise I saw an injured knight crawling towards us in great pain. Sodia and I stood at ready as we approached him cautiously.

"N-No my lady, you must run away. Leave me and get out while-" The knight couldn't finish his sentence as he was picked up swiftly by a large purple creature. The creature flung him to the ground forcefully and killed the knight instantly.

"I found you now Estelle, time to die." The creature spoke. I stood at horror as Sodia came and grabbed my wrist to get us to run. However the creature reacted quickly and back-handed her side and she flung to the other side of the river where she collapsed and remained completely still. I couldn't move at all as the creature drew nearer.

"How do you know my name!" I called out to it.

"You don't remember me huh? Too bad, I was hoping that you would at least recognize my voice like Raven and Yuri did."

* * *

**Yuri's POV**

I was running beside the right side of the river to make it to the bridge hoping that I'm not too late. But as I continue to run I stopped to see a familiar face on the side of the river in the water faced up. I jumped down and landed next to him.

"R-Raven, what the hell happened to you?" I asked. He opened his eyes slowly and turned towards me even slower. "Raven?"

"I'm sorry Yuri, but I was no match for him." HE coughed out some blood as he attempts to sit up. I placed my hand on his chest and kept him from moving.

"Relax and stay put, otherwise-"

"No, it doesn't matter anymore for me. I gave it all I had left and it wasn't enough." He coughed some more. "Yuri, you got to stop Zagi now before things go straight to hell. Leave this old man now and get moving." He clenched his hand onto my own and gripped it tightly while raising it up. He placed his other hand on top of them. "I'm glad that we met Yuri, now leave me here and get going." His grip tightens more.

"Hold on old man, you are not dying on me now you hear? Brave Vesperia owns you remember? We can't let you die." I said now with stress and grief in my voice. He only chuckled a bit.

"Well then think of it this way. I just hit my expiration date…" I a split unwanted second his grip loosened and his hands dropped down to his sides. I grabbed his shoulders and began to shake him while screaming out his name. It was in vain as he remains motionless. I checked his vitals, there wasn't any to find. I gave in and pouted to hide my face from the world, not just for sorrow, but for shame as well. I couldn't defeat Zagi earlier and now my close friend Raven paid and died for it. I got up, grabbed his body, and brought it to the other side of the river as I jumped across. I placed him down on the ground and looked at his face; he had a smile.

"At least you died with your positive side of no regrets old man." I got up and began to walk in the direction of the bridge. I stopped momentarily and looked back one last time at Raven. I shed a single tear as I continued on my way to the bridge. After a few moments I made it to the bridge…or rather what was left of it concerning that it was completely destroyed. I looked to my right and saw that the caravan that Estelle was on is lit up in flames. "No, don't tell me." I started to lose myself in the moment until past the smoke of the flames I saw Zagi's silhouette behind it. H went through it and approached me. I glared intensely at him.

"Those eyes, good I see that you are at full strength. That look in your eyes tells me so. Have I angered you? Do you hate me for what I have done? You can only blame yourself about it for not fighting me at full strength earlier. But that doesn't matter now." He stands completely upright, I couldn't believe that he was actually three stories tall. "Now that's all in the past, and I'm going to kill you this time and finally have fun with you!" He explained as he stomps his foot into the ground and caused a pillar of earth shoot out from beneath me. I back-flipped to dodge the attack and slashed the pillar away. Zagi disappeared from sight but I heard him coming from the right.

"Azure Blast!" I cried out slamming my sword into the ground and creating an explosive blast in front of me that hit Zagi dead on in the face. Although it didn't destroy his mask it still did some considerable damage to him.

"Good, now that's more like it!" Zagi exclaimed, charging forward to me and swiped his leg around to knock me on the side. I leaped, tucked and rolled, and slashed deeply into the left leg. Zagi hissed n pain as he jumped back to avoid more injuries. I ran forward and slashed across his chest trying to not give him the chance to run away. I jumped up afterwards as he body arcs backwards when trying to dodge.

"Brutal Fang!" I delivered countless punches directly to his face and forced him to stutter backwards. I ran up to him once more to follow up with a vertical slash from the bottom up and cut him from his ankle to his shoulder. He began to breathe heavily as I continued my onslaught of attacks to him. He then begins laugh maniacally until he began to spew what looks like magma from his mouth at me. I was caught completely off guard as it downed on top of me. My entire body was screaming in pain form the hot substance until I fell to the ground and Zagi begins to drift away.

"Good, I can see that your determined to come after me now." A hole appears behind Zagi as he walks backwards into it. "We will fight again when we both have become even stronger since I know that there are levels that both of us have not reached. Besides we are both at our limits now."

"Damn it, get back here you bastard!" I called out now the pain subsiding from my body. He was right though, that attack took out a lot of my strength and I was sluggish now.

"Another day Yuri, until then, you better stay alive when we meet again." He finished as the hole closed in front of him, tearing away from my view. I wanted to scream in anger but I knew that Estelle was my current concern at the moment. I ran around the area hoping that the worst scenario that I was thinking wasn't going to come true. After searching I found her at the foot of the bridge face down one the ground. She appeared uninjured. I ran up to her and flipped her over.

"Oh thank goodness that-" I stopped noticing that the front of her body was covered in wounds from Zagi's claws all over her chest, stomach, and legs. Her face was untouched though. I grabbed the sides of her head and stared directly into her eyes, they were empty, completely devoid of any life in them and I knew for a fact that her souls was devoured by Zagi too. At that moment my heart sank and I couldn't help but start to cry and then felt like screaming. "No, NOOOOO!"

* * *

**Flynn's POV**

I stood at attention waiting for Estelle to arrive even though she was late. The town's people were getting restless with anticipation for her arrival. However as I looked to the lamppost next to me I saw that the petals of Halure's tree that were there started to wither away quickly and eventually they dropped down.

"What is it commander?" The knight next to me spoke.

"I don't know, but I feel a bad omen."

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**A/N and that ends the forth chapter of the story today. The deaths of Raven and Estelle hang heavily on Yuri's shoulders as he could do nothing to stop it. What will he do now with this development? Review, Subscribe, Fav plz.**


	5. Reconciliation of Battle

**A/N And now the next chapter begins after the death of two comrades of Yuri. What will fare for him this time around? Let's find out.**

* * *

**Third Person View**

Rukia continues to run over to where the bridge was with Repede in front of her. He then makes an abrupt stop and sniffs down the ledge near the river to the left. Rukia walks to his side and kneels down.

"What is it boy, we got to hurry to-" As she looks down she discovers Raven's body on the other side of the river who was lying face up. She knew for a fact that he was dead since he was placed too cleanly to look like he just fell. "Yuri, what is happening over there?" Repede rises up from where he was sniffing and turned his head upward to let out a sad howl for over 2 minutes. He then stops and jumps to the other side if the river and sat next to Raven. Rukia did the same and decided to take her time since she was in no particular rush. Even if she went over to Yuri she couldn't be of any help besides giving battle tips, but she knew that even that would annoy and distract Yuri who was already a great swordsman by himself. But some kind of uneasiness befell her as she stared down as Raven; the idea that a man like him who was highly respected by Yuri was killed was unimaginable. She bent down, grabbed raven by the shoulders, and planted him on top of Repede who will now carry his corpse onward. They then begin to run off the direction they were going before.

* * *

**Flynn's POV**

There was a large uproar around the city because Estelle has yet to show up and the people are both scared and worried. I stepped forward and explained that I will be riding ahead to check on the knights I stationed at the bridge to see if the checkpoint was having some trouble. The uproar quieted as I hopped onto my horse and rode away with the galloping of the horse loud as I gained speed. I knew for a fact that something went wrong and I fear for the worst. Hopefully I am wrong.

* * *

**Yuri's POV **

I sat at the side of the ruined bridge, trying to shake myself out of it and regain my composure for a split second at least. But no matter how much I do so I end up overthinking about what just happened. Estelle was dead and Zagi, the one who I failed to kill, escaped to parts unknown. This was an utter defeat for me because not only was I unable to save Estelle or Raven, but I failed to defeat the man who killed them both and now I don't know what to do at this point. At least at the time I knew that everyone in my team had to be kept secret from this. If they knew that Estelle was killed by a hollow they would attempt to hunt it down as well and that I can't have that. It was only moments after that Rukia and Repede came running over from behind me. Rukia had the look of anxiety and weariness in her. Repede was carrying Raven's body, places him down, and sits upright waiting for me to say something.

"Guys…" I couldn't find any words to speak for the moment so I fell silent. Rukia nodded her head once with her eyes closed to show that she understood and walked around as if she was searching for something. Repede did the same and jumped to the other side of the bridge; he seemed to have found something of importance. Rukia then came back with her arms crossed and looked at me seriously.

"Yuri, I guess I don't need to say anything on this matter nor do I feel that my opinion matters at this point. But can we at least move to a different location before others begin to show up?" She asked. Although she didn't wait for a reply and ran off anyway. I got up and did the same, but I brought Estelle's body with me on the way back to Zaphias. I plan on explaining things to Flynn at least at that point, out of everyone I feel that even if he knew he wouldn't jump the gun like everyone else. When I was on the other side of the bridge I saw Repede running in my direction with someone else on his back. When he came next to me I saw that it was Sodia who was heavily injured, but alive. A part of me went dead for a bit before I spoke again. "Repede, take her to Flynn and get him to my apartment when things settle down." Repede replied with a bark and ran off with me running in a different direction. I didn't want to run all the way back to Zaphias, at least not straightforward. The last thing I want to cause is a commotion with the people.

* * *

**2 hours later**

I made it too my apartment and set Estelle on my bed around 15 minutes ago after dodging every person in the lower quarter when I was carrying her. I was sitting outside my apartment's door to make sure that no one enters my house when Estelle's body is kept. After sitting for a long time Flynn head came rushing up the stairs and stood in front of me while panting heavily. I didn't turn my head; I just remained still and spoke. "Flynn, you're a little late you know." My voice was stern so he knew I wasn't in the mood for joking. I shifted myself away from the door and sat with my back on the wall. "You're not going to like what you're going to see." His breathing stopped suddenly with him exhaling and holding his breath. He slowly brought his hand to the doorknob, hesitated a bit by stopping, and then finally placed his hand on it to open the door and walk in. When he closed the door behind him I could only imagine his reaction.

* * *

**Flynn's POV**

I stood in the room completely still and stared at the bed in front of me. I walked over to where Estelle is and sat down next to her. I grabbed on to her hand and held it up; it was limp and cold as I brought it close to my chest and held it there as tears began to flow. Eventually I was sobbing and couldn't contain it as I covered my face with my arm in grief and shame. I knew that it would be dangerous out there with everything that was happening. If I had actually escorted her personally then this would never had happened.

* * *

**Yuri's POV**

After Flynn entered my room it's been pretty quiet for some time. Not that it surprises me though, I can understand the silence. Flynn and Estelle were the close because they knew each other before I came into the picture. I may be distraught from this, but Flynn is probably torn to shreds and heartbroken. While I was still trapped in thought I heard Flynn exit the room and the door shut behind him. He didn't turn to me and just stood up with his back turned at me.

"What exactly happen? We discovered Raven dead as well and I know you were in the area as well." He turns towards me with his face filled with rage and anguish. "What the hell do you know!" Flynn asked with a strong and enraged tone. I knew he wasn't mad at me though, he knew that I myself am hurt. It was actually himself that he was mad at. He never liked how after everything that happened he couldn't do a thing.

"There's a lot you should know." I spoke up and rose form the ground. "There are things about this world that never showed up to our view…until just recently with me." I said to him placing my hand on his shoulder. "I've seen things that normal people can't, but a few members of our group and can see them though." I inhaled deeply then let out my breath a moment after. I began to explain to him about Rukia, the hollows, my shinigami powers, and everything else I knew about the situation. I even went and told him about Zagi being a hollow…and what he did, or what I can assume he did even though it had to be him that killed Estelle regardless. Flynn's yes rolled down and his eye lids partially closed, his muscles tensed under his armor as he brushed himself away by stepping back and turned around.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" He questioned with a calm but strained voice.

"Think about it. If I told you and the others what would you have done? There was no other means of fighting these things without the power I got, and it's not like it can be freely given to anyone. I just got lucky." I walked over to him and faced him directly. "Knowing that the other members of our group can't fight them, I'm keeping it secret so no one-" Without warning, Flynn delivered a hook to the side of my face and sent me tumbling to the ground on all four. I could hear his growling as he tightly clenches his fist.

"You're going to say 'so no one could get hurt' am I right?" He looks at me with a piercing glare that could petrify almost anything in fear. "Don't give me that bullshit when two of us are already dead." I knew that answer was coming, and i thought of that outcome as well when I decided not to tell anyone.

"Even if I did tell you before-" I returned an even deadlier glare as I rose from the floor. "Would it change anything!" I started to raise my voice in the heat of anger while still keeping it stable. "You guys can't fight them regardless so what the hell would you do! I know that in the midst of an enemy that we have no clue about, they would escape. But once they are aware of what they are facing you guys would ignore the idea of escaping and fight until you beat it." My tone dropped down and my gaze was hidden. "Look at me, I have the strength to fight them…but I was taken down as well. So what can you possibly do if even I couldn't win?"

"What about Raven!" Flynn exclaimed.

"He was a death seeker since he always said to himself that he didn't have much time left. So in the end he decided to go die fighting then to fade away." I replied back with him in a darker voice.

"So you expect us to rely on you?" Flynn asked sternly.

"No, I just ask that you don't get involved. I'm not going to have this power for long any way so once that's over and done with there is nothing we can do."

"So what you're saying is?"

"No matter what happens in the midst of the chaos. You guys, including myself eventually, are powerless." The idea struck my head when I said that. _I'm going to be powerless again to fight those things and then what? I know its Rukia's job but I have proven that I'm more superior with a sword. Will she be able to handle those hollows by herself when she was taken down by a weaker one?_ All these different thoughts began to flood my mind at once when I realized what I said. In the end I made my way to the stairway but Flynn ran up and grabbed my shoulder trying to stop me. I sharply turn around to face him again. "Do what you will, but don't get a fool head and play hero, because I'm not. And if you can, make sure that no one else from our group gets caught up in this."

* * *

**Rukia's POV**

It's been hours since I have been sitting next to the fountain waiting for Yuri to come back. Although I had Repede keeping me company it still didn't settle me down enough to not worry. A lot of things has happened and it was a shock to find a hollow evolve from a class A to a Gillian in such a short amount of time. I'm sure Yuri himself is taking this very hard but he doesn't have the strength to fight against something like that. Not to mention even I don't have that level of strength right now to fight one if I had my powers too. To top it all both of Yuri's friends were killed by it and supposedly they knew the hollows identity from when it was still alive. I got up and brushed the dust off my skirt from sitting so long and made my way to Yuri's apartment. To my surprise though, Yuri was walking in my direction anyway. We came closer to each other until we were but a few feet apart. "So how did it go?"

"A lot better than I imagined…for the both of us." Yuri said to me, but something was odd about him saying _for the both of us_. It was as if he was affected in some way that changed him.

"Is there something that I'm missing?" I asked.

"No, I just told him everything about what happened and I left it at that. He was a bit overwhelmed but he said that he will cover up Estelle's death by saying she went missing." He explained, Repede walking up and sitting between us.

"And what about your friend Raven?"

"Flynn is going to say that he was killed in action by an unknown threat and the escort was diverted safely." Something did not add up to his tone though when he said that. He seemed to have the feeling of disapproval in his throat. "Anyway, I'm going to take a walk around and get my head straight."

"When will you be back then?" I asked

"Don't know-"He turns to Repede. "Keep a close eye on Flynn Repede. Let me know if anything happens." Yuri said to him as Repede replied with a satisfying _bark_. He walked away and I followed Repede up the stairs to where Flynn would be. He had his hand covering his eyes with his head hunched over. He was unmoving until Repede came up to him and whimpered a bit, it got his attention and he removed his hand from his eyes. He kneels down and pets him on the head gently, he noticed me soon after and rose up.

"So Yuri told you?" I asked. His gaze turned to the left.

"Yeah, he told me about you and the hollows." He smashes his fist into the wall in anger. "It just makes me mad that I can't do a thing to help." He released his fist from the wall and took a deep breath to calm down. "I see why Yuri never told anyone."

* * *

**Yuri's POV**

I am sitting on the bench in the noble quarter with my head arched upward to the sky as it leans on the top portion of the chair. I had been walking for over an hour and I still could not get that image of Zagi out of my mind so I decided to slow down and sit to clear my thoughts. His laughter echoes in my head consistently and my head kept on throbbing as it felt that I was falling in the abyss of my own mind, until I broke lose. What got me out of it were a raindrop, then a few more, then a downpour. In moments my clothing got soaked by the rain and I shut my eyes in the calming serenade of the rain clouds. I opened my eyes moments later after the raindrops suddenly stopped, but it didn't stopped raining, rather someone was holding an umbrella above me to keep me dry. I looked up to see Judy holding it up and hunched over above me. She of course had that poker face so I don't know what she was thinking, but the fact that she was here now depressed me because of her timing. I swallowed my thoughts to the back of my mind so she wouldn't read me like always and stood up. I looked straight at her and she kept that smile on her face.

"What are you doing here Judy?" I asked making sure I didn't sound any different from our adventure.

"Just dropping by and seeing how everyone is doing. But for some reason everyone has been so restless. Did something happen when I was gone?" She asked in a cheerful tone.

"There actually have been some problems with some sort of serial killer on the lose." I explained. Judy tilts her head a little.

"Really? Then maybe I can hunt him down and solve the problem my way." She replied placing her hand on the spear that was strapped to her back.

"It's alright, the fearless knight Flynn is taking care of that problem and I don't want to disrupt his work." I said sarcastically. Judy chuckled a bit and smirked.

"Well I'll be around if anything, but can you please get dry before you catch a cold. I wouldn't like it if our strongest fighter is suddenly incapable of fighting." She teased handing me an umbrella with her free hand. I accepted it and opened it up so it covers me as well.

"Thanks and glad to see that you are ok. If you need me I'll be at my apartment or bugging Flynn." I said to her with my free hand on my hip. She grasped my arm though and pulled me away into a corner out of site from the public. I stumbled with her but regained my balance soon after and looked up to her.

"You're hiding something I know it. Normally when we have a conversation we would be going back and forth flirting with each other. Now you seem way to sober to be normal." She brushed some of her hair aside from the corner of her face. "What is wrong Yuri? I bet it has to do with the people going nuts in town and I'm sure a simple serial killer isn't the cause of it either." Judy started to interrogate me now. I was careless to get her to the point where she read right through me. Although I should have expected that since we know each other in a more personal level then others in our group. Although she is asking me, I couldn't tell her about Estelle and the hollows. I can hardly keep myself together from what happened. So I took a deep breath before I answered.

"I can't tell you, not now. Not when things are this heated up because its been risky these days and Flynn and I are already overwhelmed."

"But we are a team aren't we? We all support each other right?" She shot back.

"I know, but I'm looking at the entire team's best interest." I paused for a moment and found out that she could learn of things a different way that and also will keep her form finding out about Zagi. "Stay in town for a couple of days and word will get around, but until then I am sorry but I have to keep it to myself." She was a bit dismayed by my answer but then gave a satisfying nod.

"Alright, but if I am not satisfied with what I find then I will hunt you down and get the answers out of you." She said before walking away. I feel bad for irritating her like that but I don't have the heart or the strength to tell the others that both Estelle and Raven were dead. At least this way she can learn about Raven through Flynn's means and not mine. Although I am still second minded about it, it was the best option so far.

"Judy, I'm sorry."

* * *

**A/N And thus another chapter end for this Series. What will become of Judith when she hears the news? How will Flynn reveal it? And why am I asking these questions…because it's really you that's asking. Anyway just a side note, the more you guys review and subscribe, the more inspired I am to make another chapter much faster than before. Alright See ya! **


	6. Declaration

**A/N and now I'm on a roll and in a good mood so I will hustle and get you more chapters in a heartbeat. Here is chapter 6 ready to roll.**

* * *

**Yuri's POV (The next morning)**

I was in the restaurant below my apartment with Rukia and Repede for our usual breakfast. I sat in front of the bartender's table while Rukia and Repede sat at a table by themselves. I was drowsy since I never got any sleep for the past few days because I was worrying about what Judith would react to the situation. Even with a personality like her she could still be affected greatly by this, and I don't even want to think about what she would do if she heard the truth. In the end I lost the ability to sleep and kept worrying. Although I did do a good job on hiding my fatigue from everyone, they see me like any other day, wondering if I'm going to be a nuisance to the lower quarter. That much hasn't changed. Rukia herself doesn't suspect anything, which also concerns me. There hasn't been a hollow attack for a while now so it's very quiet around these parts. I don't know if she suspects it or just thinks that we are lucky. Whatever the case I was compelled to ask her about it as I got up and walked over to her. She looks up to with a perplexed look on her face.

"Yuri? What is it?" Rukia asked.

"Just a question, lately there hasn't been a hollow attack for a few days besides the-" I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts. "Zagi incident."

"Yeah I've noticed it too. Things have been quiet but I'm taking the advantage to get some things together to help you. So just try to relax and take a breather for now, later we will talk and I can get you situated better." She told me and continues eating.

"Alright then, I guess I'll see what's going on in town. The news about yesterday will probably be out by now so I need to assess the situation now." I told her while walking out casually.

"W-Wait!" Rukia raised her voice to get my attention. I turned back around to face her, but she averted her gaze from our locked eyes and peered downward. "Never mind, it's nothing."

"Alright then, suit yourself." I made my way down the streets until I was at the town square. People were bustling and running all over the place so I can assume that with everyone being hectic then that means the news has probably gone out about the other day. I grabbed a newspaper from the stand which was amazingly the last one and took it with me outside the city. While standing beside the main gates I opened it up to read along the headlines. It was describing what had happened the other day in details that only Flynn knew. Before I was able to read through it thoroughly, Rukia came running up to me and snatched the paper from my hand. "H-Hey!" She didn't respond and instead looked intensely into the paper. She sighed for a moment and then whispered something that I couldn't here. The last thing that happened was the newspaper burning into flames. I was shocked by her outburst since I could never see her doing something like that. I walked up to her but she didn't turn her gaze to me. "I guess there is something that you are hiding from me?" I asked. She made no response and instead stood there like she was collecting her thoughts. "Rukia?" She responded to that by flinching, like she just realized that I was right next to her. She turned around and faced me with a serious stare.

"Listen, you probably won't like what you are going to read in the newspaper, so I suggest going to Flynn about it instead." She stated.

"I'm guessing he revealed something that I don't like? Then I'll guess I would have to belt him one to get it out of him." I joked as I turned away and ran off to the castle. The pit of my stomach churned as the curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to see what it was that Flynn revealed that was so bad. After reaching the castle but before entering I went to the stand that had the newspaper and picked up another copy. I skimmed through it so I can get it over with, but I stopped once it started to go into detail about me. It was stating that I was at the scene where the fight was taking place and I was confronting the creature in battle. I continued on and at the end it said that I was utterly defeated in the end in my attempts to back up Raven. The next detail made my stomach cave in and my mind filled with anguish, _Estelle was killed in the process along with a large group of knights. The only survivors of the fight were Sodia of the Flynn brigade and Yuri Lowell._ My mind shut down for that split second realizing that I am now the highlight of the story. I took a quick glimpse around me to see that everyone had peering eyes focused on me even though they are hiding it. I crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the trash in anger. Now that I myself am mentioned in the story and Flynn went behind my back n mentioning Estelle's death, I am going to be in hot water for the next few days and that means even worse from when the others find out in Brave Vesperia. I just realized as I was standing up that Judy was going to read the paper as well, and I don't want to confront her now until I find Flynn and integrate him for revealing such information so carelessly. With looking around me carefully I ran up the stairs of the castle and entered. I stormed through the halls, ignoring all the knights that were around me and eventually made it to Flynn's personal quarters. I knocked twice to only get no response. I was in a bad mood at the time and my rage got the better of me and I kicked down the door. I entered to see Flynn standing upright casually; it came to me that he was expecting for me to enter like this. In a few moments after I entered a stream of guards came rushing in and their swords pointed at me.

"Leave us." Flynn commanded, turned, and then crossed his arms behind his back. "I was expecting his arrival, there's nothing to worry about." The guards were hesitant at first, gut they placed their weapons down, bowed respectfully, and left in a hurry while they also repaired the door I broke in seconds as they left. Flynn sat down on the chair outside in an outdoor balcony that watched over the city from above. I came in and stood up next to him, I didn't want to sit down, now wasn't the time to become casual. "I assume that you read the newspaper, with your entrance and all." Flynn stated staring out into the distance.

"Yeah, I did. But I don't know why you would disregard me like this?" I questioned

"So you expected me to lie to the people of the truth?" I shook my head in disappointment.

"Why do you always think my intentions are no good?" I questioned back with exasperation. "But you're revealing information that the people won't understand, especially the way it's written."

"So you want to hide the truth? You are such a hypocrite Yuri." He said mockingly. I grew a bit upset with that comment so I went to correct him.

"We aren't hiding the truth, nor do I think we already know the entire truth." I stated. "I may know more than you but to reveal such information when we have no clear understanding of what we are dealing with is a big mistake. Not to mention you put me in hot water."

"Listen, it was your friend's suggestion that I reveal all this so as long as she knows what we are dealing with it will be alright, am I right?" Flynn shot back with a daring gaze. I was stuck frozen by his words to hear that Rukia had gone behind my back as well.

"Guess there isn't anyone on my side then." I began to walk out the room but Flynn came from behind and stopped me by placing his hand on my left arm's bicep. "Listen, the main reason I was against this was because it's going to make things a whole lot harder on me. But I guess I'll just have to compromise and take the burdens that come with it. I wasn't called the Dark Enforcer for nothing you know."

"Yuri." Flynn said sadly and lets go of my hand.

"Take care of yourself Flynn, and be careful." I left him with that warning and left the castle to head back to my apartment to face Rukia. When I got there she was happily playing with Repede by scratching his stomach. _I've never seen Repede act like this with anyone. He is too prideful to let anyone do that to him, even me._ I thought to myself as I myself visible to Rukia's field of vision. She immediately stopped and Repede came running up to me. I patted his head and said, "Why don't you go scout the city for a bit? Things are getting out of hand now and I don't want to risk a hollow attack while I talk to Rukia ok?" I told him, he nodded and ran off. I looked towards Rukia with a serious gaze. "So why did you send me to Flynn in the first place if it was you that told him to reveal the unknown details, at least to me it's unknown."

"Because you are keeping things to yourself when many others are concerned as well." Rukia stated. "That have a right to know that-"

"Then why did you guys hide the fact of these creatures for god-knows-how-long, and why now of all times."

"I mean for your friends, if I see it as a liability then I would wipe out their memories of anything relating to it." Rukia shot back; she was now frustrated by the subject. I walked up to her and karate chopped her on the head. Normally I would do it to the back of the person's neck but I didn't want to knock her out. She rubbed her head furiously in discomfort and exclaimed, "What the hell was that for!" I did it again just for the sake of the tease and replied back afterwards.

"If that was intentions then I won't let you do that to them." I said to her that put her in complete shock. "Now that they know I'm leaving it at that and nothing else, I deny your right to wipe out their memories."

"But what if they-"

"Don't speak like you know us." I interrupted coldly. Rukia went quiet in shock after that. "Just because you lived for so long doesn't mean that you know everything about everyone. Humans are not predictable with their actions and my group is the most unpredictable of them all. If you really want to help us so earnestly then at least get to know us and-" I stopped because I was interrupted by a flying spear that came through the window as it stuck to the wall and protrudes out inches away from my face. With such a up close look I can tell that it belonged to Judy.

"I guess I'll leave you and your friend alone then."

"We'll finish this later." I answered back as Rukia left the apartment. I walked up to where the spear was stuck and pulled it out of the wall. "This is going to be a pain to fix." I said concerning the cracks in the wall. In a timely manner Judy came walking through my door with her smile on her face as usual. _It's so hard to read what she is thinking._ I thought as I threw her spear sideways to her. She catches it with one hand, slings it on her back, and walks over to me. "I'm guessing that you read heard the news?"

"Yes I have." She said calmly.

"You're taking this pretty easy aren't you?" I questioned.

"Well that's because-"

"YURI LOWELL!" A familiar female voice shrieked from outside.

"That's why." She pouted while face palming herself. The next thing we knew we saw a barrage of fireballs hurling towards my house and I reflexively grabbed Judy, jumped through my door from the other side of the window, and took cover with Judy under me as the barrage of fireballs stormed my apartment and blows it to bits. After it stopped I poked my head out to see what the damage is, my apartment was completely wrecked.

"Oh great, Rita blew up my house." _Like I said before to Flynn, take all the burdens that come with it_. I thought to myself, but I didn't think my house would suffer too. I got up and ran downstairs with Judy following from behind me. When we came down the stairs we saw Rita walking up to us while dragging Karol by his hair. "Even Karol is here to?" I whispered.

"Yeah, he came along with me to look for you concerning the guild." Judy stated overhearing me. Before o could say anything Karol was sent flying towards me with great force and I dodged to the right while he face-plants a wall. He gets up with bruises and a bloody nose, but he ignored it as he came charging after me. He leaped up and landed on my chest which caused me to tumble backwards. He the grabbed my collars and started to shake me violently back and forth.

"Yuri, this is a joke right? I mean there is no way you could lose!" Karol shouted at me while still shaking. It must be hard on him, Estelle was one thing but he always looked up to me as a big brother so seeing that I was beaten must be demoralizing. I grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him off of me before I get dizzy from all the shaking. I got up and placed him down. Rita was prepared to send another barrage of fireballs at me and Judy was just staring at me with anticipation. In the end I had no choice but to give in to the circumstances, and even though I don't like the idea of telling them about what has been happening, I couldn't leave them in the dark anymore now, I will have to talk to Rukia about this later.

"Alright listen up because I don't want to explain this again." I told them sternly. I ran by everything I know about the Hollows, Soul Society, the Shinigami, me getting my powers, and my failure at the bridge to defend Raven and Estelle from Zagi. Afterwards the next thing that came was a fireball directly at me and I was sent cascading into the river. I resurfaced to see Judy stretching out her hand to grab me. However, when I grabbed her hand she threw me up and at the wall, leaving me to fall directly on my head afterwards. "Ow, I knew you guys wouldn't like it but this is a bit much don't you think."

"Yuri, you realize how outrageous your explanation is right?" Rita snuffed at me. She then walked up to me with her hands crossed while I got myself back on my feet.

"I'm not joking around."

"He really isn't." A familiar voice called out form above. We all looked up to see that it was Rukia standing on the roof tops with her arms crossed as well. She leaped down and delivered a punch directly to the side of my head which forced my soul out of my body. "You all can see him right?" I turned to meet everyone's gaze and they looked directly at me so I can fully assume that they can see me. "That alone should be proof that his explanation was solid."

"Wait, but how-"

"It's not something I would like to discuss" Rukia said interrupting Karol. "I just did that so you guys can believe him, otherwise I'm not part of this conversation." She leaped over the wall and disappeared. I got up on my feet and brushed the dirt off me. Everyone was staring at my outfit that I had on right now.

"So this is your soul form that you were in to fight against Zagi?" Judy asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." I responded.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier about this before when you could make your point more valid. I mean we could have fought together and-"

"Conventional attacks that we used in the past are completely ineffective to hollows. You guys wouldn't be able to do a thing. Besides," I took a deep breath before continuing. "The fact that I wasn't able to fight against him left me mortified. I couldn't bear it of you guys got winded up into this against something I've been fighting." I said that phrase a bit solemnly without realizing it and everyone grew quiet. Rita was shifting left and right a bit like she is lost in thought, Karol couldn't find words to respond to this besides tearing up a bit, and Judy was pondering with her hand on her chin. "I'll leave you guys to tend to your thoughts. If you guys need me I will be in my room." I left the area after entering my body and proceeded over to my apartment. When I entered I saw Rukia sitting on my bed with Repede sitting upright next to her.

"Yuri," she said quietly and turned her head towards me. "About our conversation early, I'm sorry about forcing the issue like this. I wasn't thinking about things in your perspective and I jumped the gun." She stood up to face me but she actually was trying to avoid eye contact. I can tell she was apologetic with that expression and I walked forward to her and patted her head.

"Don't be, you were only doing what is best right? So don't worry yourself over it too much." I said to her with the best smile I could muster. "But can I ask you a question, just so I can recap?" She brought her gaze to me ready to answer my question. "When a hollow is slain with the Zanpakuto then the souls it devoured would be released and into Soul Society correct?" My question caused her eyes to widen slightly and a gulp to hit her throat.

"Y-yes, that is the case all the time."

"Then all I need to do," I clenched my fist tighter before finishing. "Is to find and slay Zagi, slay him and Estelle's soul will be released right?" Rukia was baffled by my response, then she shook her head.

"Yes that is the case, but Zagi evolved so fast that he has grown way to powerful even for you when you fought him. There is no way you can fight a Menos!" She shouted at me.

"Even so, that just means I have to get stronger." I clenched my teeth. "The next time I do find Zagi, I'm going to finish him for good, and save Estelle's soul."

"I see," she sighed and walked towards the door. "Come with me, there is someone I would like for you to meet."

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**A/N And thus the chapter ends with Yuri declaring that he will hunt down Zagi for the sake of Estelle. Ad who is this mystery person that Rukia is going to meet, find out next chapter on Crossing Moons! Subscribe, Fav, Review, whatever floats your boat to help float mine.**


	7. Blades cross, A Familiar Face

**A/N It's been a while and I feel like another chapter to be posted. Anyway enjoy XD**

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**Third Person View**

Rukia had just walked out the room, leaving Yuri standing perplexed in his charred house thanks to Rita's relentless spamming of fireballs. He shuffled around to try and fix it up before he left, then Flynn came walking through the door. "Yuri I," He stops to see that the entire area has been charred to a crisp. "What happened?"

"I'll give you a hint, a girl in red, carries a scroll, headstrong and is someone you don't want to piss off." Yuri joked.

"Rita huh," Flynn said to himself with a grin, but it faded moments after. "Yuri I'm sorry that you had to take so much heat, I know you don't like being noticed even if it's good for you." Flynn pouts his head shyly. "You didn't say a word that you were the actual hero that saved us from the Adephagos, and that lead it to me being the one and that's how I became commandant in the first place." After Flynn's comment, Yuri stood up and walked over to Flynn to give him one of his complementary karate chops to the forehead. "Ow, what was that for." Flynn said in frustration while rubbing his forehead.

"Don't get sappy on me or else I'll hit you harder to fix that brain of yours." Yuri said in a jokingly but serious manner. "Since you're here then you can ask for a refit of my apartment."

"Come again!" Flynn exclaimed in question to Yuri's request. "You want the knights to come in and clean up after you?"

"Technically like you said before it was Rita so the knights can come up and clean up after the mess she made. Wouldn't this be considered destruction of private property? Secondly, I always scratched your back when you needed an escape in some way, so help me out for once." Yuri said to him in his usual manner of talking. Flynn chuckled and began to rub the back of his head.

"Ok you got me, I'll get this place cleaned up before you get back since you probably need to be somewhere." Flynn told.

"Thanks, I'll be back in a couple of hours. See you around Flynn." He made his goodbyes and began to walk out; Flynn called out to him before he stepped out.

"It's good to know that you're back to your usual self Yuri, you have been so down and I feel that I have been too hard on you." Flynn remarks. Yuri turns sharply around and puts his hand up signaling that he is about to perform another one of his karate chops again. Flynn raises both his arms and smiles with a nervous grin on his face saying he is submitting. Yuri chuckles and puts his hand down to walk out of his house.

* * *

**Somewhere in Hueco Mundo…**

In the white desert sands, Zagi marches on with a white orb in his right hand. He evolved farther since confrontation with Yuri, being a Menos. He had bright red eyes, two horns protruding the back of his head, two more from the back of his neck, and a muscular crimson body. His mask is still relatively the same from before. He had a man-like form standing twenty feet tall with a tail extending like a chained whip and a pointed end while connecting directly to his spine, his feet were beastie and his arms were in a similar fashion with hands like a man but claws like a beast with the added bonus of having several talons extruding out of his side arm from his wrist up to his elbow. He wanted to take his time strolling back to his sanctum, killing and devouring anything that tried to cross him, at first he was only a rank _A_ hollow but he managed to develop into an Adjuchas in a short amount of time after his confrontation from before.

Another hollow appeared out of the sand dunes as he strolls along in front of him, this one was snake like and was the around the same length as Zagi's height. It lunges forward straight at him from the front, only for Zagi to stretch out his free arm and grab the creature by the mask causing the snake-like hollow to flail around to seize freedom. "What a fool you are, I knew you were there. I just didn't want to bother with you because you have such weak spiritual pressure." Zagi spoke out as he grips harder on the creature's mask who shrieks in pain as it cracks. "Since we are this far then I guess I'll just devour you anyway." Zagi widens his mouth and sunk his jaws into the side of the creature's neck, paralyzing it as it stopped flailing. Once then he released his jaws and lifts it head first over him. He opens his mouth once more and chomps down on the snake-like hollow, slowly slurping it down his throat. After finishing he wipes his mouth from what remains and flicks his arm to remove the residue. "Not the best meal of the day, but it'll do for now."

Zagi continued on only to stop for a short moment to lift his arm up and look at the orb he was carrying, inside was the drifting soul of Estelle who is as of now unconscious. Zagi exhales a deep breath he held after devouring the previous hollow. "I don't know what that ridiculous man wants from someone like you, it was a pain to come and rob you from your body." He brings his arm down and continues to walk. "But as long as he keeps his end of the bargain I could care less. I can finally fight Yuri again and that's all I want now," His gaze intensifies more and his beaming eyes glow darker as if enraged. "To settle the score!"

* * *

**Back with Yuri…**

Yuri was casually strolling with Repede in front of him; they were on their search for Rukia who has run off without telling them where she went to. Repede was tracking her down by her spiritual power, it was faint but he could still trace it. Their concentration was broken as a familiar presence is felt from behind.

"Yuri!" the feminine seductive voice called out. Both males turned to see Judith running from behind. She caught up and stood in between them. "Where are you going?"

"To meet up with Rukia, why?" Yuri asked.

"I just wanted to get to know what's going on a little more, after you left with everything you told us we all got stuck with a lot of questions." Judith explained crossing her arms, putting on her poker face as usual. "I'm just glad I got to you before Rita did." Yuri chuckled and then sighed as he placed his free hand on his hip since he is always carrying his sword. Repede began to growl fiercely in another direction, which made Yuri turn sharply at him with anxiety that concluded with one thing in his mind, a hollow has appeared.

"Damn." Yuri cursed under his breath; Judith walked up from behind and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Stay low, I'll be back."

"I'm going to, I won't fight if that's what you are going to ask. I just want to see first-hand what it is you are fighting." Judith said to him in a worrisome tone. Yuri said nothing and just nodded his head, knowing that he wouldn't be able to talk her out of it, rather he doesn't have the time to talk about it and has to run.

The three ran off, with Repede once again in front to guide them. After running through alleyways, over walls, and through crowds the finally found what they were looking for. The hollow is a good fifteen feet high with a bulbous mask and olive-green body. It was only a c rank so it didn't have any distinguishing features.

"Good, just a lower class this won't take long." Yuri said as he dashed forward. Judith made her way to get a closer look but Repede reflexed and brought his tail up and kept her from moving closer. With a stern gaze by Repede to Judith she knew that she had to stay where she was and jut watch as Yuri did battle. Her eyes gave the look of concern as she watched Yuri fight a similar creature that had taken the life of Estelle earlier.

Yuri leaped up to catch the creature off guard, which he did and landed on its back. He drew his sword and stabbed it into its back, then slashed across the midsection to the right while the blade was still inside. He leaped off the Hollow that is now writhing in pain with his body now halfway from being cut in two. Yuri landed and took the chance of the Hollows confusion to slash across its face as a final blow, and after a few moments the hollow dissipated into nothingness once more. Yuri stretched himself wide and exhaled. Afterwards he made his way back to where Repede and Judith were.

"I got lucky and caught it off guard, so it was much easier to dispose of it." Yuri stated.

"That was a hollow?" Judith asked with one eyebrow raised. "But you killed it so easily even if you did catch it off guard." Judith pointed out seeming irritated.

"There are different levels of hollows." Yuri pauses and turns his head to where the hollow disintegrated. "The one I just fought was C-ranked at best, while Zagi." He turns his head back around. "Was a A-ranked going into Menos."

"Menos?" Judith questioned. Repede shifts down to the ground uneasily and pouts his head on Judith's boot while whining quietly as if depressed.

"Yeah, don't know much about those myself, but I know that I was out of my league when I fought him. In the end I had my ass handed to me." Yuri finished. Judith gave a saddened expression which forced Yuri to look away. "Why do you always have to make that face, it just makes me feel like I did something unpleasant." Judith, realizing her unconscious driven expression, shook it off and reverted back to her poker face again.

"Sorry about that." Judith said apologetically. "Didn't mean to make you feel bad."

"Ah don't worry about it." Yuri told her reassuringly. In that second Repede raised his head sharply off Judith's boot and snarls while sharply turning left and right. "Repede?"

"Don't tell me," Yuri paused and looked around the area. Several spirituals pressures can be felt in the area and Yuri drew his sword again. "We're surrounded; this was an ambush by sacrificing one of their own." Yuri said in realization. Judith got her spear ready and Repede drew his dagger. Both Yuri and Judith came back to back with each other. As several hollows of different variety appeared, Yuri clenched his sword harder in front of him and Repede growled more intensely. "There are ten hollows here, four B-ranked and six C-ranked." Yuri said to himself in detest. "Judith, when you see the chance to run, do so."

"I'm not going to-"

"I'm out-matched, Repede and I can't fight so many and protect you at the same time. If you stay then we will only worry about you, go and we'll be fine." Yuri interrupted. Judith said nothing as she grits her teeth in shame, she knows she can't fight them but the idea of running was unorthodox to her. The first C-class hollow charged from Yuri's front, he slashed forward and knocked it away. "GO!" Yuri cried out. Judith gritted her teeth harder and ran.

She continued on until a hollow appeared in front of her. Judith got ready to evade it as soon as it tried to attack, but instead it ignored her, leaped above her head and ran over to where Yuri was fighting. She stared for a few moments and realized something; they were only going after Yuri. Her eyes widen, the idea begging her to run back and help. She was about to, but was stopped short by a man placing his hand on her shoulder and tugged her back as he walked forward. He is a tall light-skinned man with messy, light-blond colored hair and gray eyes that is shadowed his white and green stripped hat. He is wearing dark green pants with matching dark green shirt and a dark greyish-green coat, having large white diamond patterns along its bottom half.

"Now now, you can't fight those creatures." The man said to Judith. She was stunned and confused about his sudden appearance, but she knew that he was a friend if he knows what Hollows are according to his previous remark. "Stay here," he turns his head to her and glances only showing one eye. "I'll take care of the poor guy." He said with a grin.

Back with Yuri and Repede, he was cleaving away at hollows left and right, but known would fall because there were too many to fight. However, in a flash every hollow in the area started to fall and dissipate as each one had their masks hacked away. Yuri was stunned and completely unable to move after seeing so many get killed all at once. He regained his composure to realize that the same man that confronted with Judith is standing right behind him back to back. Repede himself didn't even realize that he appeared the way he did. "Yuri Lowell is your name correct? You got quite some skill to fight against such bad odds like this when you're not even in soul-form." The man spoke. Yuri jumps forward and turns around to face the man. The man does the same. "Rukia was right about you, you are reckless to a fault, but also extremely brilliant in battle."

"I thank you for helping me out but don't you think that it would be nice for me to know your name?" Yuri questioned. The man only raised a flag with the words _correct_ on it.

"Yessir, which would be the wiser choice I'd say." The man said out loud cheerfully. Yuri only sighed and face-palms himself.

_Did I actually get saved from this guy?_ Yuri thought. Once then Judith came running down from behind the shady man and ran past him to Yuri's side. Repede followed after her.

"You okay Yuri?" She asked.

"Yeah, just a bit overworked that's all." He told her, but his wounds that he was hiding said otherwise along with Repede who collapsed on the ground out of exhaustion. Although she wanted to punch him in the face after the stunt he pulled, she withdrew herself from that action and simply pouted.

"Don't do something like that again; you actually had me worried, and that's the second time you did that to me ever." Judith scolded. Yuri only smiled nervously, feeling bad for himself again, and then looked to the direction of the unknown individual.

"So once again, who are you and how do you know Rukia?" Yuri asked him. Both Judith and Yuri stared at him intensely in hopes that he would actually answer the question. The man puts his flag away and puts places both his hands on the cane he was carrying w round him as he stamps it onto the ground with a dud.

His eyes peer through the shade of his hat with a serious gaze, and his stern tone resonating out of his voice. "I am Kisuke Urahara."

* * *

**A/N AND CUT! Yes I would do that to you; Kisuke has made his appearance in front of Yuri, and Judith just got to see first-hand what it is that Yuri is dealing with. With the awesomeness that is Kisuke now in the picture what will become of the infamous "Dark Enforcer" Yuri Lowell? And what about Estelle? What will become of her now that it is revealed that Zagi is working with someone and she wasn't eaten, but captured? Subscribe if you haven't done so, review to give opinions, or fav. The voice of fans will be heard to help make this story better.**


	8. Recovering Time and Old Friends

**A/N Urahara has appeared has crossed paths with Yuri Lowell. What will become of the situation now?**

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**Third Person View**

Yuri looked directly at the man as he gave him his name. Kisuke Urahara was looking at Yuri with a serious glare, as if analyzing him. In a split second he used shun-po and grabbed Judith, Yuri, and Repede in a single movement and brought them on top of a roof in the sector of town they were in. The three of them got up on their feet after their crazy ride they just went on. "Good, now that we are out of the streets we can breathe a little easier." Urahara commented. Yuri looked at Urahara with a look of confusion as a reaction to what had just happened. Urahara turns his head to him and grinned. "Relax, I'm a shinigami just like you are…in a sense." He chuckled.

"I can tell since you took out all those Hollows, but you did it so effortlessly." Yuri commented.

"Well back in the day I," he paused for a moment and tipped his hat. "Never mind."

"Can you at least tell me what that was you did back there, I've seen something like-" There was a sudden pause on Yuri as he realizes that Urahara appears just a few centimeters from himself when he was just a ten feet from him. It happened so fast that Yuri couldn't react at all.

"The skill is called Shun-po, or most commonly referred to as Flash-step. This is a pretty high level in retrospect to your current skill Mister Lowell." Urahara mocked as he jumped back a few feet. "Basically I can accumulate the sprit particles under my feet and push myself in any direction I choose to move at a fast pace." He continued to briefly explain. He tapped his can on the ground three times to get Yuri and Judith's attention. "Now then, if I knew that I would be here earlier than Rukia would, I would've brought the package with me anyway and not let her wastes so much time to traverse the fields to get to my shop."

"What do you mean?" Yuri pondered as the shady man smirked.

"She ordered something for you Mister Lowell, although i was questioning it at first I eventually just shrugged it off as soon as she told me about you." Urahara explained

"I see, and-"

"Yuri, not to interrupt but you should get a look at yourself." Judith interrupted. Yuri did so, he was covered in lacerations from the many hollows that he fought so he was bleeding pretty badly, but the amount of times he fought in the past made him unaware of his own well-being when he was focused too much on one thing. Repede wasn't looking too hot either. He was the same way but a lot more tired and can barely stand so right now he was laying on his side breathing heavily on Yuri's left side.

"You know there were actually a lot more hollows in the area then the ones you fought, some of them stronger. If I haven't come around here in time they would've beaten you down pretty bad. Apparently this attack was mainly to get you out of the picture." Urahara's comment struck Yuri pretty deep, the idea that he would've had to fight more then he already had. "We'll call this meeting to an end for today, I'm sure we'll meet again. If you need me for any reason drop by my shop at Deidon Hold." After that he left using Shun-po once more and vanished with nothing by a slight breeze in its wake. Yuri, now feeling the pain, falls on all four to the ground and his sword drops to his side while his breathing became irregular.

"Yuri!" Judith called out. "Hold on, I'll get you home." She went over, gave Yuri a shoulder, and helped him up from the ground. Repede struggled to get up and walked along with Judith who proceeded to the ground floor from the roof of the building.

* * *

**Yuri's House**

Flynn was supervising several knights as they continued to shift different furniture around in Yuri's house to replace all the destroyed ones from Rita's rampage. After a while the managed to finish and the knights saluted Flynn as they left. Flynn inspects the room, it was the same as it was before except that the furniture itself was classier and the walls more refined with a bluish touch of color. Flynn sat down on the bed feeling how comfortable it was so it leads up to Yuri's expectations; although he knew that this is over the top.

He got up and proceeded out the door, pleased with the work that was put into the renovations. He walks down the stairs of the apartment and out the alleyway, but stop short as he saw an injured Yuri Lowell being carried by the shoulder of Judith along with the limping Repede. He runs up right before Yuri lost his footing and Flynn caught him and lent his shoulder as well. No words needed to be spoken to Flynn to say that he needs to get to his house so he kept quiet until he got back upstairs. Once inside the house, Judith and Flynn placed Yuri on his bed with him sitting up. Repede limped away to his new bed that was brought in and plopped like an old man who just came back from a long day at work, with his head buried in his fresh pillow. Yuri had his head down while sitting up, lacking in energy to lift it up and too much soreness.

"Thanks guys, I owe ya one." Yuri gratefully said. Judith and Flynn looked at each other momentarily, having a conversation with just eye contact. Flynn nodded and walked out back to the Imperial castle. Judith walked out and went to the store below to grab some medical supplies. Without Estelle around they can't rely on her healing abilities anymore, so they had to make do with what they have.

Judith walked back up and into the room where Yuri resided. Repede was already dead asleep from exhaustion, his wounds aren't as bad and they will heal on their own, he just needed time to rest. Yuri was had his back on the wall while sitting on his bed, his blood-stained clothing was removed and tossed to the side of the room in a hamper next to the window so he was just in sweat pants to show his bare-chest, covered in deep cuts and bruises. Judith sat next at the bed's edge with the med-kit in her lap and she waved to him to come closer with an inviting smile. Although the smile only made Yuri shudder with him having the idea that she is planning something devious as usual.

He drew closer to the edge of the bed next to Judith with his elbows leaning on his knees as he himself leaned forward. Judith shifted back a little to see the damage on Yuri's back. It was just as bad only a lot more bruises though, the thought of Yuri being thrown around like a rag doll appeared in her mind. She chuckled softly at the thought, and then threw it aside thinking that joking about something like that about Yuri was too cruel even for her to do. She patted his back to help him relax but it caused him to wince a bit in pain so that idea backfired. She hasn't seen him so badly hurt since getting tossed aside in the air with the rest of the group and they ended up in free fall from Zaphias to the harbor, and that was a long shot from being in mid-air. She opened the pack and took out a bottle of what appeared to be a gelatin like ointment. She removed her gloves and placed some of it in a pad and she began to apply it to Yuri's back, he shudders as soon as it made contact with his skin.

"Ooo, that's cold." Yuri commented. "I never though you knew some medical skills Judy."

"Well I was on my own when I went along destroying Blastia in the past." Judith said, continuing to apply the gelatin to his body. "Ba'ul doesn't exactly have hands so he couldn't help me much with my health when I needed medical attention and you are already aware that I almost never interacted with many people that much during my adventures. So I had to learn to take care of myself." She continued on, and made her way to apply it to Yuri's chest. "With you always alone with Repede I would think that you were the same."

"I am, it's just that,"

"That when Estelle was around you didn't think of it much when she could just heal us in an instant." Judy interrupted. Yuri blinked twice with wide eyes of shock at her comment. His feeling to talk came back again as he shook the odd feeling off.

"Well you didn't have to put it that way," Yuri said now sounding a little down. "But yeah, I guess you're right." Judith said nothing; afterwards she finished applying the ointment and reached into the box again. She brought out roll of bandages and began to wrap Yuri in them. "Say, where are others anyway?"

"Rita is going around town getting supplies and Karol is being dragged around with Rita as her chore boy for the day." Judith told with eyes shut and her index finger pointing up as if giving a lecture. After she finished the gesture she resumed with the bandaging.

Yuri chuckled. "Sounds like something Karol would be caught up in." He scratched the back of his head and gave a large nervous grin. "So much for our boss taking charge huh?" Judith smirked and slapped Yuri on the back, which caused him to gasp to the sharp pain in his body.

"All done." She said playfully. Yuri turned and glared at her with a blank stare and a grunt, which only contributed to her smiling wider. Yuri sighed as a sign that he gave in to her playful but devious nature. Already, Yuri was feeling the effects of the treatment and slowly began to feel better.

"Thanks," he said to her.

"It's no problem really, just trying to make sure you're at tip top shape." Judith said and then grinned. "Besides, who else am I supposed to count on to watch my back in battle if you can't?"

"Rita?" Yuri said inquiringly.

"Someone who won't cause friendly-fire in the process." Judith clarified with a sweat drop.

"Hey, you got Repede if anything, and he seems to get along with you just fine."

"True, but a more human companion that I can understand would be nicer." Judith said. Yuri scratched the back of his head, and then Repede who has supposedly woken up already, climbed onto the bed and sat in between them. "But I suppose Repede will do as a replacement as a battle buddy while you're gone." Judith accepted as she pet Repede who kept himself sitting upright.

There was a knock at the door, "It's open." Yuri said, the door opened and Flynn came in with two other knights behind him. "What is it Flynn?"

"Judith, you mind if I get to speak to them in private?" Flynn asked the female warrior. She raised one eyebrow in concern, and then shrugged it off as she got up, nodded, and walked out. Yuri got up and Repede jumped off the bed with him.

"BAKA!" A female voice from one of the knights called out as she slammed her fist onto Yuri's head, making him rub the area that was struck, but he also recognized the voice as he quickly stood up straight again. She removed her helmet to reveal her bright red hair that is tied in a ponytail from the back along with her yellow colored eyes. She was no older than Yuri himself.

"Hisca!" Yuri called out nervously as he stutters back.

"What's with that reaction? You haven't seen us in so long and this is how you react?" Hisca said angrily. The thought of her saying _us_ struck his head and he turned to the other knight. She removed her helmet and revealed to have the exact same features from the other knight. He knew them both, they were twins that are in the knights and they worked with Yuri when he was in the knights as well before he resigned.

"Chastel too?" Yuri said to himself as she waved back with a giggle. Unlike Chastel's counterpart, she had an opposite personality to her. She wasn't nearly as rash or headstrong, she was rather a lot more calm then Hisca. The only thing that separated the two besides their personality was that Chastel had a larger chest then her sister, besides that you can't really tell the difference.

"Nice to see you're ok Yuri." Chastel commented. Yuri smiled back at her, and then sharply turned to Flynn.

"Flynn, what are you trying to pull?" Yuri questioned.

"W-Well they asked me to bring them to see you and I can't exactly turn them down." Flynn explained. Yuri sighed.

"They had you wiped when we were in the same brigade together as our superior officers. But it seems that they still do even if you're their superior officer."

"H-Hey!" Flynn called out and blushed while the twins burst out laughing. Flynn grunted in the end and crossed his arms.

"Anyway we just wanted to see how you were holding up; we heard that you've been getting into a lot of trouble lately." Hisca said. "Honestly do I need to watch you constantly so you don't do anything rash?"

"You're going to get yourself more hurt then now if you keep this up Yuri." Shastere continued noticing the bandages wrapped around Yuri's chest and back. "Who dressed them anyway?"

"Must've been Judith, she was the only one here as far as I'm concerned." Flynn stated.

"By the way Flynn told us everything so you don't need to restrain yourself about it." Hisca said. "So while you're out fighting for everyone's sake please try not to get yourself killed." Yuri pouted his head as if an anvil dropped on top of him.

"It's good to know that we don't have to take care of you anymore Yuri." Chastel continued on.

"Oh c'mon I've been out of the knights for a few years now; you guys shouldn't need to worry about me so much after everything I went through."

"Oh really?" Hisca commented being uncertain of Yuri's condition right now. "Fine then, if you say so we won't help you."

"Never asked, never needed. But don't get involved in my mess alright."

"Fine." The twins said in unison. Flynn stepped in to interject through the meeting.

"Not to break the mood but we should really get going soon." Flynn's looks over to the clothing inside of the hamper to notice that it's in tatters and covered in blood. "Yuri, shouldn't you get some new clothing now? You won't be able to wear this anymore."

"You can throw that out, I won't wear it anymore." Yuri stated.

"Then if that's the case why don't you wear the outfit that was sent to you by the knights when you were given the title 'True Knight'?" Hisca said.

"Because that uniform is for publicity. Publicity that I don't want, I will have it on display sure but not to wear."

"Yuri." Chastel whined.

"I have another outfit I could wear anyway so it doesn't matter."

"Suit yourself." Flynn turns to the twins. "Alright, stop teasing Yuri and let him get some rest."

"Ok." Hisca gave in.

"See you around Yuri. You too Repede" Chastel said. Repede barked in farewell while Yuri waved at them as the three of them walked out the door. Yuri got up from his bed and walked over to his dresser and opened it. Inside were all the different garments he's obtained throughout his adventure. His spa uniform when he was working as a bouncer at Yumanju, his costume when he did a play at a hidden island away from society called "The Improvisionist", His outfit when he was given the "True Knight" title a while back. Finally he came across the outfit he was looking for, the one he obtained when he was given the title "Dark Enforcer". He liked that one, because it actually represented him more than the other clothing did. He immediately took it out and dressed himself up, and his black hat caught his eye.

"Eh, why not." Yuri spoke when he reached over for it and wore it on his head. For some reason, he felt complete in his outfit and made a wide smile feeling captivated content. Repede walked up from behind and inspected the newly dressed Yuri Lowell, he himself approved of Yuri's new wardrobe change.

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**A/N Well, Yuri's got a new outfit to replace the old one. And just a side note, Hisca and Chastel are both Canon characters from the TOV movie. If anyone wants the link to the movie you can ask me for it. Anyway subscribe if you haven't done so, review, and fav. See ya next time XD**

**P.S. if you don't know what the "Dark Enforcer" outfit looks like then type in google with Yuri Lowell and it should come up**


	9. Introdicing Mod Soul

**A/N And with the help of my co-worker I have another chapter up for you all. This one is much longer the the usual ones i had done so a lot of conetnt was shoved in here. Anyway enjoy.**

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**Third Person View**

Another knock came at the door which Repede and Yuri turned at the same time at the sounds direction. Yuri sighed deeply and face-palmed. "How many people want to see me?" He whispered to himself. "Come in." He called out. Rukia then came through the door.

"Hm, that's a new look for you. Not bad." She commented.

"Well my other clothes kind of got torn up so I needed to grab a new outfit. Anyway what did you need to get from Urahara?" Yuri asked. Rukia's gave a blank stare thinking how Yuri knew the man before she said anything. "He came and gave me a hand from a hollow outbreak that I got caught up in."

"A hollow outbreak?" Rukia pondered and placed here hand on her chin. "Something like that is very unusual. I wonder what could have sparked that."

"Who knows?" there was a pause, "At any rate did you get what you needed?"

"Actually yes I did," Rukia reached into her robes and pulled out a device the likes of which Yuri had never seen. It was a small several inch long colorful stick with a turtle's head at the top, "I figured you'd want to have something without having to rely on me all the time to get your soul out of you body. So I went and got this," she placed the stick in Yuri's hand.

"And just what exactly is this?"

"It's a soul candy dispenser, basically there are pills inside this device that, when swallowed replace your soul with an artificial one. That way your body doesn't just lie there as it would if I had knocked it out of you," she said.

"I see," Yuri said examining the interesting looking object in his hand, "So how exactly does it work?"

"You push on the little head on top and it opens and pops the pill out," Rukia explained.

"That simple eh?" Yuri said rubbing his chin, "Well it's better than Flynn's cooking I guess." And with that he pushed the button and dropped the soul down his gullet. Instantly, Yuri felt as though someone has had just yanked every nerve fiber in his being forward as though trying to remove his skin from his bones. The sensation lasted only an instant and when it ended Yuri found himself in his soul form. "That...is probably one sensation i don't want to go through if I can avoid it" Yuri said none too thrilled by the feeling.

"You'll have to get used to it," Rukia told him, "Especially if you want to fight hollows and I'm not around."

"I know, but it would be nicer for you to punch me instead...so to speak," Yuri told her.

"What do you want me to do, buy several pairs of gloves from Urahara and distribute them to your friends?" Rukia asked jokingly.

"I know someone who would like that," Yuri said thinking of Rita.

Rukia made no comment instead she was staring intensely at the soul in Yuri's body, "Hmm that's odd."

"What is?" Yuri asked as he turned to look at her.

"Normally artificial souls introduce themselves to their masters upon first meet, but this one's particularly quiet," Rukia stated.

"Eh, could he be defective then?" Yuri asked.

"Maybe, I mean I couldn't get the model I wanted I can tell that right now," Rukia said thinking of her favorite artificial soul Chappy.

Since the soul wasn't doing anything Yuri opted to take some initiative, "So, do you have a name?"

The soul looked at Yuri, "I'm Noba," he said.

"Well that's a start," Yuri said leaning to one side and placing his knuckles on his hip.

"At least his silence won't necessarily give away to people around you that something's up," Rukia said, "Those around you unenlightened to the truth might just assume you're having a bad day."

"I assume there have been issues with non compatible Soul Reapers and souls in the past," Yuri said.

"Yeah and several missions have had to have been aborted, and for a Substitute like yourself this is a pretty decent bonus," Rukia stated.

"I see, like if the soul you got me had been all Sunshine and Rainbows that might've posed a problem I take it," Yuri said chuckling at the thought. Rukia nodded in agreement.

Before the conversation could continue there was a friendly cheer of, "I'm back," from Judith as she walked into the room. The first thing she noticed was that there were, what appeared to her to be, two Yuri Lowells in the room. "What's going on Yuri? Why are there two of you?" she asked looking at the real Yuri.

Upon getting an eyeful of Judith Noba grabbed the scarf on the Dark Enforcer uniform and pulled it up so that it covered his eyes as his face turned red with embarrassment.

"Hmm," Judith took note of the unusual action taken by the Yuri to her right.

"Rukia was showing me an alternative way for me to get me out of my body," he said and looked to Rukia for support in the explanation.

"Basically what you see before you in Yuri's body isn't actually Yuri, but rather an artificial soul inhabiting his body while Yuri is in soul form. This way Yuri doesn't always need me to be around to get him out of his body and he can ensure his body's safety by having an artificial soul take command of it meantime," Rukia explained.

"So we don't have another incident like that hollow outbreak that happened before," Yuri added.

"So you won't get pounded on like before you mean?" Judith asked.

"Precisely," Yuri answered, "So allow me to introduce to you Noba, my current impersonator"

Judith leaned forward, arms behind her back towards Noba and let out a very alluring "Hello."

Noba peeked from underneath the scarf momentarily before covering his eyes again and turning the color of a ripened pomegranate as he backed away a few steps.

Judith turned to look at Yuri, "Well he doesn't do a very good job. The Yuri I know would never hide his face. You have no sense of shame to your looks, and you have a better poker face then me at times." she flirted.

"Um, actually I think it's you. Ever since you came around he started acting like that," Yuri said to Judith.

"Really?" Judith said as a slick smile crossed her face. She turned around towards Noba again. She leaned forward in the same position she was earlier and said playfully to the artificial soul, "Don't be shy. Come on out." This accomplished nothing except Noba's face turning a deeper shade of red and backing closer towards the wall. Judith, enjoying this little game walked over to Noba pulled down the scarf and said playfully, "Peek-a-boo." In response Noba cringed and covered his face with his arms over his body in an X-formation.

Rukia looked at Yuri, "Don't you think you should help him?"

"You kidding, I'm actually enjoying this even if this is going to ruin my rep," Yuri chuckled.

"Come on its no fun if I'm the only one who talks," Judith continued to tease Noba.

In self-defense red energy formed near Noba's wrists and suddenly Judith disappeared only to reappear again in midair, blissfully unaware positioned on her knees with her hands curled up and touching them, and that she was floating and not on any solid ground. Moments later she fell to the ground with a thud dropping right onto Noba's back, well rather it was Yuri's back with Noba in his body. Noba fell to the floor face planting into the ground having been hit with the full brunt of Judith's weight aided by a second and a half of gravity.

"Oh fancy meeting you here," Judith said leaning over towards Noba's front. Noba just pulled his hands close to his face and shook.

"You know that's still my body and it's not fully recovered," Yuri said with annoyed concern. He turned to Rukia. "What just happened though, is that normal? He just made Judith disappear for a quick moment and fall on top of him."

"Not in my experience, no that's not normal," pauses to think, "Unless of course our friend Noba here isn't just your ordinary artificial soul, but rather a modified or Mod-soul."

"Mod-soul," Judith perked up, getting up off of Yuri's body, with Noba in it, "What's that?"

Rukia was quick to explain, "Years ago the Soul Society Department of Development and Research came up with an idea to create soldiers to fight alongside Soul Reapers using their gigai. However the project was cancelled for several reasons like being deemed slave labor and for the fact that there had been some deaths during production. Some of these mod-souls still exist, although they're not supposed to be regularly distributed like this to customers."

"So then this guy would be?" Yuri asked.

"A surviving soul of the project," Rukia answered.

"I see, then that makes things easier for me," Yuri said.

"Huh?" Rukia looked at him confused.

"I'm glad; the one you would have gotten me was going to be a walking zombie. At least this one has a personality and better intelligence," he answered.

"Oh each artificial soul comes with their own personality and intelligence level, but only mod-souls have special abilities like what we just witnessed Noba," she answered.

"But not someone you can just tell to make act like you in case I'm gone for long periods of time. And a mod-soul with a special ability wouldn't be a bad thing in my part, more like an advantage," Yuri stated.

"True, of course I think it would be particularly hard for Noba to act like you after what we just witnessed," Rukia stated.

"Well, I can work around that as much as possible. However it seems with someone like Judith it would be inevitable that he would act this way," Yuri stated.

Suddenly Repede began barking. Yuri didn't even need to ask what the problem was when he noticed that his body was nowhere to be found and the window was open.

"That's not good. Repede!" Yuri shouted. Repede barked in affirmation. "Follow him and make sure you keep low about it," Yuri told his canine companion. Repede barked and leapt out through the window after Yuri's body.

"I wonder why he ran off," Judith said. No one responded.

"Anyway," Yuri said breaking the silence, "I'm going to give chase, so can you guys give me a hand?" Judith and Rukia nodded and all three went out in search for Noba.

The said mod-soul had made his way to the public streets and eventually found himself in an unoccupied part of town save for one, ill-tempered, grudge holding mage. "You!" Rita shouted at Noba, mistaking him for Yuri and fired a fireball at him knocking him unconscious.

Repede, having the scent superior to that of a bloodhound had managed to keep track of his owner's body and track him down seconds after Noba was hit by Rita's first wave. Seeing this he jumped in front of Noba's body and stared Rita down, looking rather intimidating sending the signal that he would strike if she attacked.

"Hey, outta the way Mutt, I want a word with him!" Rita shouted. Repede growled at Rita before turning towards Noba and sniffing him to make sure he was all right.

At that point Yuri was approaching the scene. Since Repede and his body were the only things currently in his field of vision he called out to his dog, "Good job Repede," he said and bent down to pat Repede on the head for his reliability as he inspected his body for damage. He face-palmed when he noticed singe marks and sighed.

Rita, only a few feet away, was baffled at the sight of two Yuris, but then shook it off and proceeded to grill him with questions, "W-wait a sec what's going on here?"

"Well just to let you know I'm experimenting with something and you charcoaled my body. Not to mention it was still recovering," Yuri told her with a displeased tone.

With, but a moment's delay after saying this Rukia and Judith showed up, "Looks like we found him," she said looking at Yuri's body.

"And some extra baggage," Yuri gestured to Rita.

Rukia looked at Rita, "Huh do you have a problem?" she asked.

"Of course I have a problem!" Rita shouted, "I don't understand how you and Judith can be okay with this Yuri! Ever since Rukia's come into the picture things have gone straight to hell! You're off fighting enemies the rest of us can't even touch. That freak Zagi is back! And to top it all off Estelle is dead!" she pointed at Rukia, "And it's your entire fault! I wish Yuri had never met you! If he had then Estelle might still be alive! Ever since you came into the picture Yuri hasn't been himself and now all of a sudden you're performing some experiment with him that allows him to split into two bodies! And I'm just supposed sit on the sidelines and be okay with that!" Rita flung her arm out at her side, "I don't think so! It's your fault all this has happened so just go back to wherever the hell it is you came from! And bring Estelle back!"

"I'm sorry," was all Rukia could get out. Whether she intended to or not Rita had really gotten underneath Rukia's skin with her words.

"You're sorry? You're sorry!" Rita's eyes started to water, "My best friend is gone and you're sorry?" she shook her head violently, "No way! Nuh uh, that's not going to cut it!"

"Rita that's enough!" Yuri said.

"What is with you?" Rita shrieked, "Why are you defending her? You know I'm right, you know that if you had never met Rukia there's a chance Estelle might be alive. This isn't fair Yuri!"

"Rita I know you're upset but you don't have to go blaming Rukia for what's happened," Yuri tried to reason with her.

Rita was unfortunately too far-gone, "Shut up! Just shut up!" she screamed and started spamming fireballs. The group dodged.

"Damn if she keeps this up she's going to attract hollows," Rukia declared.

"Rita stop!" Yuri shouted. It was too late though, Rita was still in her fit of rage and Yuri already heard the sound of a hollow's cry.

Rukia pulled out her Soul Pager, "Yuri this way!" she pointed. Yuri unquestioningly followed Rukia's lead. Repede, after Judith loaded him with an unconscious Noba, took off after them.

"Hey I'm not done with you yet!" Rita shouted and stormed after them, but Judith stopped her by grabbing her arm, "Let me go, I'm not done with them!" Rita shrieked.

"And what, you're going to run off and get yourself killed? A hollow has appeared and like it or not we can't do a thing about it," Judith told her.

"Says you," Rita scoffed, wrenched her arm free and continued down her path. Before she got a few steps though a hollow landed right in front of her, "Out of the way!" Rita shouted and let loose a barrage of three fireballs. The first shot missed, but the second shot created a crack in the mask and the third shot dismembered its right arm. "Ha see these things aren't so tough!" Rita said before launching three more fireballs at the reeling hollow. The first two shots slammed into the cracked mask and the third shot tore through and killed it.

_That's impossible; _Judith thought to herself, _I thought Yuri said these things were invulnerable except from his Soul Reaper powers._

Meanwhile Yuri was busy taking out a group of B class hollows that had cluttered around him close in an area of the royal quarter hungry for his deliciously powerful soul. When he had finished taking care of the group Repede sniffed out another hollow close by. As Yuri charged towards them he saw Rita headed in his direction out of the corner of his eye. Sighing in frustration Yuri picked up his speed towards the hollow Repede had sniffed out. Yuri watched Rita out of the corner of his eye in case he had to stop the hollow from attacking her, and then noticed that Rita seemed to be headed directly towards the hollow he was after. _What is she thinking? _He wondered.

As he reached the hollow's location he saw a group of knights doing drills with Flynn commanding them.

Flynn having taken notice of Yuri made up some excuse for his knights to disband, but as it turned out that's exactly what the lurking hollow had been waiting for as the knights split up it pounced on a small group of three and began butchering them until the knights it had attacked were corpses at its feet. Flynn began directing his soldiers away from the area, as they wondered and looked around to find out what invisible demon had killed their comrades. Yuri engaged the hollow in battle only to recognize its spiritual pressure as a class A.

"Class A? Damn I already tackled so many B-ranked ones that I'm running on fumes now. I'll have to play it safe." Yuri told himself as he charged forward and slashed horizontally at the hollow to drive it back a bit. And keep the other knights that haven't evacuated yet safe from harm.

"Wretched soul-reaper." The hollow said in a deep, menacing, tone. It swiped his claw at him at lightning speed and created a shockwave in front of him. Yuri braced himself and guarded, then sprinted forward to give a thrust with his sword into the Hollow's mask to kill it. However, the hollow back-rolled to evade the attack and then punched the ground to make Yuri loss balance with the seismic disturbance. The hollow took its chance and lunged again to chomp on Yuri who was destabilized. Yuri got his foot hold and side-stepped to get out of range. The hollow lunged at him again and swung his enormous claw at Yuri. Yuri ducked to evade the blow and leaped up to come down with a vertical slash. But the hollow surprised him with a whiplash of his tail and knocked him away into a building a few yards away from him.

Rita came into the picture soon after and faced the massive creature with determination after defeating the other one. "Fireball!" Rita cried out as she unleashed a barrage of them at the hollow at once. Smoke filled the area and the hollow was covered in it which blocked her view. When it began to clear she saw that her attacks were ineffective to the hollow and no injuries were present.

"Was that it little one?" The hollow said with an intense glare. "I don't know if you knew this or not, but the hollow you killed was only a d-ranked, nothing special at all with his weak power in comparison to me as an A-ranked one." The hollow chuckled deeply while Rita's eyes widen in fear and was completely paralyzed. The hollow drew closer and Rita looked over to the corpses of knights that were to the side, she grew even more fearful at the sight.

_No! What was I doing! Am I really going to end up like them!_ She screamed in her head. The hollow was mere feet away from her now as it casually took its time to get to her. It's mouth opened slowly, ready to take in its next meal and all Rita did was stare directly at it. "NO!" She shrieked and shut her eyes tightly to not look. There was a single chomping sound, but it wasn't her that was taking it. As Rita opened her eyes she noticed that Yuri stood before her and the Hollow had bitten into Yuri's arm and partially the left side of his body. With force, he pushed the hollow away from him and stood his ground as he took another stance.

"What the hell are you doing standing around! Get out of here!" Yuri barked. Rita snapped out of it and did as she was told to run away. Rita was so frantic over what happened that she didn't see Judith when she ran into her.

"Rita, are you okay?" Judith asked. Rita couldn't respond, she was still shaken up at what happened. When Judith looked up to see what was going on she saw Yuri fighting against the A-Ranked hollow with a big gash on his left side of his body. It was then that Rukia came from behind and stood beside them. "Is he going to be okay?"

Rukia responds while gritting her teeth. "At this rate he won't last long. He just fought a horde of B-ranked and lost most of his stamina with that horde." Rukia advances forward. "I may not have much strength anymore but at least I can give Yuri some leeway." Rukia then proceeds to bring her arms in front of her. "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!" She chants as a red ball of energy appears in her open palm. "Hado number 31, Shakkaho!" The ball of energy launches with her arm flailing back from the kickback of the blast. It collided with the creatures face and it blinded him, although no damage was occurred since Rukia's power was severely downgraded. However with Yuri in front of him he took the opportunity of its confusion and leaped over to hack away at the hollows mask, from which it dissipated in a high-pitched death cry. Rukia gave a satisfying smile after the creatures defeat and the safety of the others in the area. However they hear Repede barking in the background from where Judith and Rita were standing.

Yuri grits his teeth however and stays in position. "Damn it, it's not over yet!" Roars of several hollows can be heard from the distance.

Rukia reflexively ran to Yuri's side and stood in position. "You won't be able to fight them by yourself anymore with the way you are now." After her statement Yuri fell to his one knee and supported himself up with his arm on his only standing leg. "Yuri!" She took notice under his shinigami uniform that there were several lacerations all over his chest along with the severely large bit mark from the earlier hollow he had slain. Rukia knew that Yuri was down after the beating he took and that she herself would not be able to fight. With the way things are now, they would have no other choice but to run right now. But Yuri managed to find the strength to stand up again and placed his sword above his shoulder casually.

"Well, break time is over. Back to work." Yuri said out loud high spiritedly with a grin. Rukia was baffled, but relieved as well. Both of them stood side by side as hollows swarm into the scene in clusters until they were completely surrounded. "By the way, thanks for the help back there."

"I can't have you dying now, who will protect the town if you get killed now?" Rukia shot back casually with a smile.

"Who knows, but right now let's just concentrate on what's in front of us!" Yuri cried out, which hyped up the Hollows move in. However they stop suddenly as they hear large booming footsteps approaching from the side street. Everyone's eyes, including the hollows peered down the same direction as the booming footsteps become faster and louder. In no time, a tall lightly tan-skinned man with small rectangular glasses appeared. He had a muscular bulk and cornrows while wearing a short-sleeved white t-shirt and black jeans. He leaps up into the air so high that he casts a large shadow on the area. "Uh, who is that?"

"Oh no." Rukia face-palmed as the man came hurling down like a bullet.

"I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS!" The tanned man roared with an incoming battle-cry following his statement. He charged down and slammed himself down onto a group of bewildered hollows, killing them in the process in a cloud of smoke. As it cleared away with a large shockwave unleashed by his roar, the hollows charged at him first. One by one the hollows fell as the odd man tore them apart with his powerful punches and deadly kicks. All that Yuri and Rukia can do is watch while they are completely ignored by the enemy.

Back with Judith, Repede, and Rita, they watched form the sidelines of what was happening. Both of them were just as shocked as Yuri when that strange man appeared and started fighting all the hollows with his bare hands. In their confusion, another individual came from behind them both and they turned around to see who it was. Judith immediately recognized him. It was the so called _Hat-and-Clogs_ from before along with two kids, one with spikey reddish hair and another with violet hair tied into pigtails with a solemn look on her face.

"Urahara? What are you doing here?" Judith asked.

"Didn't I say that I would help clear out the hollows for the day? These are remnants of before so we were hunting them down, but they started to scatter." Urahara stated to the group. Rita turned to Judith with a sour look on her face.

"And just who the hell is this guy!" Rita screamed with agitation.

"He's a friend, if he didn't show up to lend us a hand a while back Yuri would've been in a pretty bad situation." Judith explained.

"And he still is; his injuries from before transferred over when he went into soul form. Right now if he keeps fighting he will turn himself into paste and I don't feel like scraping him off the pavement without payment." Urahara joked, but his tone got serious after. "But seriously he needs a break, this is ridiculous for him to keep fighting such impossible odds. Never before in history has there been so many hollows appearing at once around this time. It would be bad if he drops dead and I can't fill in for him entirely." Judith and Rita couldn't respond to his statement. He basically said that he himself is counting on Yuri as much as Rukia did. "Anyway since I'm here there is nothing to worry about. Now step aside while we clean house."

"Hold up." Rita shouted. "I just took out a hollow before with my magic but that other one didn't even flinch when I hit him! Care to explain why?"

"Living World magic is very similar in power to that of Kido that Soul Reapers use to defeat hollows which can be defeat either by use of a Zanpakuto, Kido, or spiritually enhanced hand to hand combat. Therefore Magic, which is essentially living world kido, could be effective against hollows as long as the person is spiritually aware. The rest depends on what is known as spiritual pressure what we call Reiatsu. Ururu, if you please?" Urahara began to explain. From there, Ururu came from behind with a chalk board and began to make sketches of different people and hollows using stick figures.

"Thank you. Now a battle between spiritually aware beings is a battle of Reiatsu and a weaker Reiatsu will always prove less effective than a stronger one." Ururu draws more pictures to depict this.

"Your Reiatsu Miss Mordio was superior to that of the D-class hollow therefore with only a few blasts you were able to dispose of the hollow without a problem." Ururu shows sketch of stick figure Rita defeating a hollow with fireballs.

"However, against that larger hollow your Reiatsu wasn't enough to compare and was therefore overturned by the hollow's Reiatsu and therefore your attack proved ineffective." Ururu shows sketch of Rita's fireballs deflecting off of a hollow flexing its muscles.

"However, had you used an attack of a much higher magnitude you may have been able to cause a lot more damage" Ururu shows two panel sketch of Rita firing a large trajectory arrow labeled _really powerful spell_ at the large hollow. The second panel shows stick-figure Rita standing over defeated hollow in victory. "Does that make sense?"

"W-Wait, then are you saying that I'm weak?" Rita asked bitterly.

"In a sense, yes. Both of you have very low spiritual power which is why you can't fight them at the level you are, compared to Yuri's level of strength he can go head to head against a B+ ranked hollow rather easily, although a swarm is another story." Urahara told the two. Judith nodded understanding what he said.

Rita wasn't as accepting. "I can't believe that. I never had any trouble with monsters to the point where they could kill me at all!"

"It's a whole new ball park with these guys little one. And there is a lot more at stake than just dying. If that thing eats you, you don't just die, your souls is stuck inside its stomach until it's killed." Urahara stated to the group sternly. Judith, after a moment of silence, turned around and ran out to where Yuri and Rukia was, who were surprisingly still watching. But Yuri was on the ground exhausted again after fighting a second battle. Judith walked over while she had the chance and gave him her elbow once more.

"C'mon Yuri, I just dressed your wounds an hour ago and you're already this worse than before." Judith joked with a grin. Yuri was unresponsive though which caused her smile to become a frown. She turns to Rukia. "Let's get out while we can."

"Alright." Rukia nodded. They ran back to the group with the other guy fighting the hollows. Rukia stood beside Urahara and Judith placed Yuri's head down on Repede's back since he was sitting down with Noba to his right. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Oh c'mon Miss Rukia is that any way to greet us after coming to save your friend twice today?" Urahara said rubbing the back of his head. "Tessai, stop playing around and wrap it up already!" The tan-skinned man turned and saluted Urahara as he continues his fight ten times faster than before.

"His name is Tessai?" Judith asked.

"Yes, a master at kido, but a deadly fighter with only his fists. I wouldn't go head to head against him on a bad day if I were you." Urahara said to Judith. He then turns and walks up to the unconscious Noba who is on the floor in Yuri's body. He raises his cane, and then slams it on Noba's forehead, knocking out the pill as it rolls on the floor. "I'll take that."

"H-Hey, wait a second!"

"Sorry, but I got a call from my little girl here that she gave you the wrong merchandise. Much worse this is defective so I'm going to go dispose of it now." Urahara stated to the group as he flicks the pill up and down in the air. However without him noticing, Yuri Lowell, who had regained consciousness jumps up and snatches it away.

He casts a wide grin and says, "That's ok, I like what I have right now. Or are you going to go against the customer's wishes and try to seize it?" Yuri weakly said. Urahara was surprised at Yuri's actions, but in the end he just shrugged his shoulders and smiled widely.

"Ok, fine by me. This ends to me as a big profit without me losing a thing." Urahara said cheerfully while waving another flag in the air. Moments later Yuri collapsed from exhaustion. Urahara immediately turned to Judith. "Well, I'll leave him to your care then. I'll be in town for a couple of days so he can get back on his feet." Judith nodded and picked him up with Rukia's help, while Rita stands by and watched. Urahara and company proceeds to walk away, he stops momentarily though. "Tessai, Go back to the shop once you're done."

"Alright Kisuke!" Tessai shouted form the distance. Urahara and his group disappeared while Yuri's group takes their leave elsewhere.

* * *

**A/N And thus another chapter is done, Special thanks goes to DrachonicHero19 who has been a great help with the series so far and I implore others to go check out his stuff of similar stories and such. Anyway, Review, subscribe, Fav, whatever floats your boat please do so.**


	10. An Undeniable Deal

**A/N Well, Yuri is pretty messed up right now and is in a need of a break again. But what of the group that's watching over him? Let's find out.**

* * *

**Third Person View (A few hours later after horde)**

Rukia, Rita, and Repede were sitting at the table in Yuri's house while he, now back in his body, was getting treated by Judith again with all his new injuries on top of his reopened old ones. Noba was on the table back in pill form with Rukia and Rita and neither of them said a word to each other for the entire time. Repede got up and walked over to Yuri's bed where he was laying down and sniffed his hand. He was exhausted from the non-stop fighting he has been doing and the fatigue had just kicked in, he will be asleep for a while. Judith stooped for a second to pat Repede's head reassuringly that Yuri would be alright and to stop worrying. Repede whined, then walked away to his own bed and lay down. Rukia glanced towards Repede, but she could only see the scar side of his face so she couldn't tell whether he was asleep or just lying in wait for Yuri's awakening. She got up and walked over to him to pat his head while giving a faint smile. Repede's ears flickered with acceptance to the action.

After a few minutes a knock came at the door and Rukia, swiftly but quietly, opened it while giving a finger gesture close to her lips to stay quiet. Karol and Flynn were at the door and they walked in to see everyone after the recent incident. The door shuts behind him and Karol walks up to where Judith was while she continued to treat Yuri. He made a few hand gestures to ask if Yuri is doing alright. Judith nods and casts an assuring smile to show that Yuri will recover. Karol exhales the breath he was holding and sits at the table with Rita. Rukia and Flynn follow and sit next to him with Rukia's legs and arms crossed and Flynn sitting perfectly straight.

"So what happened while I was gone?" Karol whispered to Rukia.

She turns her head to him with a solemn stare. "He's been fighting so much in the past couple hours. Two hordes with no time to rest took out a lot of energy and his injuries were pretty severe. Thankfully Judith can get him patched up so we are just here to watch out for him."

"And what about you Flynn? Several knights were just killed recently by the attack. Are you sure you can be here with so much going on?" Rita asked.

"I know it's been crazy, but no one knows what's going on so thanks to that the investigation division is taking care of it so I have some leeway in it." Flynn said.

"Not that they would find anything though." Rukia stated. "If none of them are spiritually aware then none of them would find anything that could reveal what's been happening behind the scenes."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Rita asked quietly but coldly.

"Watch your temper Rita, unless you want to put us in another bind." Rukia shot back trying to contain her anger. "The hollows are attracted to strong senses of negative emotions, when you went spiraling out of control before you attracted the horde and we were lucky to even be able to make it out of it." Rita grew silent, the thought striking her hard that the horde Yuri was forced to fight, and the death of several knights were because of her. But she showed no evidence of guilt about it as she sat down back in her chair with a straight face and snuffed to the side. But internally she was torn about that reality that was given to her the way it did.

"Man, Yuri was always considered to be cursed with his luck but I didn't think that it would be this bad." Karol joked with a wide grin, trying to brighten the situation.

"You'd be surprised how bad it got when he was in the knights." Flynn continued quietly with a grin.

Rukia gave a smile as well. "Bad luck huh, he seems to be doing better than he would have before."

"Indeed." Another deep voice coming from the window spoke. They all turned to see a black cat sitting on the windowsill. "Sorry about the interruption but I am here for Urahara's sake." Karol jumped up in shock and fell backwards on the floor.

"A-A talking cat!" Karol shouted. Rita then threw her book at Karol's head, leaving a sore bruise on his head as he rubbed it with his right hand. "Ow, what was that for?" Rita put up her finger to her lips to signify that he should keep his voice down. Karol grunted, and turned to Judith. "Uh hey Judith, can you,"

"Busy." Judith interrupted, still attending to Yuri's treatment. Karol sighed and got up. The cat chuckled.

"You are truly a remarkable group. Anyway like I said before I'm here on Kisuke's behalf on a request. He would like to meet you all besides Yuri in the outskirts of the city limits to discuss something to you."

"Well I do have some time to give, but what about Yuri?" Flynn asked while turning his gaze to Yuri who was still asleep. Judith finished patching him up and packed up the medical supplies in the container. "You're done?"

"Yes, now he just needs to rest." Judith said to the group "Since the lovely cat seems to be a friend of Urahara, I would like to go and speak with you then about some things." She turns to Rukia. "Since we are all wondering what it is that Urahara wants from us maybe we all should be going. You mind staying to watch Yuri while we are gone?"

"Sure, I'll take care of him." Rukia told with a smile.

Repede rose up from his cushion and walked over to Judith. "It seems I'll take Repede along as well." She said.

"Alright then, come back soon alright?" Rukia asked the group. They all nodded and left the house via main entrance to places unknown.

* * *

**Zaphias Outskirts…**

The group arrived to the meeting place after following Yoruichi outside the city. They were in a dense forest, so they wouldn't be noticed or interrupted since the trees were large and tall. No monsters in the area too, this made things ideal for them. In a few moments after arrival, Urahara came out of the shadows with his signature cane and fan.

"Well now, the gang is all here. Let this meeting commence." Urahara spoke out.

"So what is it that you needed to see us for Urahara?" Flynn asked.

"First I wanted to explain a few things before we can get into the main reason why you are all here." Urahara said waving his fan around.

"Good, because I wanted to ask a few questions anyway." Rita said out loud. "First off, this spiritual energy that Yuri has been using to fight, is that something similar to using aer or mana with a type of device like a blastia or something?"

"Well technically Yuri doesn't use a device. However, using Spiritual Energy has some similarities and differences with regards to using Blastia. Whereas Blastia enhanced techniques by interacting with aer and sending that throughout the body, Spiritual energy requires direct interaction within the body's stamina, though not in the same way of using life force."

"Wait wait wait, slow down a sec. What do you mean by that? The energy being _inside_ of us and we can utilize that?" Rita questioned.

"Wouldn't that be like what Raven and Estelle had to be put through as well?" Karol commented.

"Excess use of Spiritual Energy can only exhaust you, not kill you and a good night's rest or healing via Kido is all it would take to regenerate the spiritual power within the body. Whereas blastia required more aer in order to produce more powerful effects, spiritual power requires one's willpower to be more powerful." Urahara clarified.

Karol gave a sigh of relief. "So Yuri isn't burning himself out then? Good, that got me worried for a sec."

"Another question. When I was standing in front of the so-called _A-ranked_ hollow before my body completely froze. It was like something was being instilled into me."

"The leaking of your spiritual power, the amount of it you can't contain within becomes known as your spiritual pressure; in terms of being in the presence of someone with high spiritual pressure would be the same as having been in the presence of an area with a large density of aer. This effect can be negated if your own spiritual pressure is strong enough to counteract it. In terms of combat, attacks with weaker spiritual power will be overturned by sources with stronger ones as I explained earlier briefly to the two young maidens over there." Urahara points to Judith and Rita standing side by side. Rita casts a glare at him while Judith just giggles innocently. "Magic attacks, like Miss Mordio's fireballs, would be negated and direct combat attacks have the potential to injure the user. In a sense spiritual power could be seen as directly interacting with aer as opposed to using a catalyst to do so, but in this case the aer is your body's own inner strength."

"So that's why I was trumped by that larger hollow." Rita quietly said to herself. "One last question, how do you know if someone is spiritually aware? Does anyone that had used a Bohdi blastia before have that trait?"

"I would say that most bohdi blastia users normally wouldn't be spiritually aware. Yours may have been born through the constant interaction with the Entelexeia and the spirits. In fact I'd say any individual that had any form of contact with those types of beings would be spiritually aware, as well as anyone that happened to be around during the incident on Zaude when the Adephagos returned."

"A large concentration of aer along with the presence of Pharaoh might have triggered it?" Karol questioned.

"Most likely, well as far as I was told by Rukia when she heard it from Yuri." Urahara said to the group. "There could have been earlier instances besides that though. Judith however, being Krityan, should be naturally born with it, the reason why Krityan never noticed Hollows before is because none of them have ever been in combat."

"That makes sense I suppose. So you are saying that I'm natural at this?" Judith pressed on.

"Well, yeah." Urahara said scratching the back of his head with a slight crack of a smile.

Yoruichi walked forward in front of Urahara and attracted everyone's attention. "Getting back on subject we have a proposal for all of you."

"A proposal?" Flynn questioned crossing his arms.

"We know you are all spiritually aware, that's a fact. Now we want to train you how to use your spiritual power that is at your disposal. If you do, then not only will you be able to fight against hollows, but you would also be back at your full strength when you had blastia, perhaps even stronger." Yoruichi explained to the group. Yuri's group gave looks at each other, partly surprised, but also joyful about this news.

Karol was the first to speak out. "If we train, then Yuri wouldn't have to fight by himself anymore right?"

"Well there are things that Yuri can do that you won't be able to even after you train with us. But yeah, you can fight with him again." Urahara interjected.

Karol's face brightened up and ran up to him while fist-pumping his left hand. "Then I'm in! Let's get started!"

"First I have to ask, how exactly are we training?" Judith spoke out, grabbing everyone's attention.

"First off, you need to know some of the fundamentals. We already explained a few, but we'll get into more detail later when we start. Then we will have you adapt that into combat after we teach you basic skills with it. After that, you're all on your own to get stronger." Yoruichi said to the group. Judith had a smirk in the middle of her explanation, but it died in the end.

"Aw, that means I won't have a training partner then." Judith pouted.

"Hey, you could beat down on your boss here then. He seems to have a lot of energy." Urahara joked as he pointed at Karol who was continuing his previous action.

He stopped after the attention was brought to him. "Huh, wait me fight Judith?" Karol began to flail his arms around in anxiety. "Nuh uh, no way, I will drop out of the sky every time I fight her." Everyone has a short laughter at Karol's usual outburst. Repede walked up to him and slapped Karol in the face with his tail to calm him down and barked.

"S-Sorry about that." Karol apologized. Repede grunted and walked back next to Judith. "Anyway, what about you Flynn? You haven't said a thing so far."

Flynn snapped out of his daze and shook his head violently to grab his hold of reality. "Oh, I do have one concern. I would like to do this training but how long would it take to finish basic training and where would we do it?"

"I'm staying in town so we, meaning just the two of us, can train at the outskirts of the city, while Yoruichi here gets the others trained at my shop near Deidon hold. It would take around a week, depending on how willing you are to learn." Urahara told him. "I know that since you're the commandant of the knights that you have to be constantly present. So you can just take care of your duties in the mornings and then you can come out and train with me." There was a slight pause before he continued. "Oh, and Repede will also be joining us since he is needed by Yuri." Repede barked in satisfactory.

"We can take Ba'ul to the shop to shorten travel time. Besides I need to check up on him to see if he's alright." Judith offered.

Yoruichi walked into the center of the group. "Then it is settled. My group will leave tomorrow morning to get things done over at the shop, and Urahara's group will stay here in the city."

"Deal." Yuri's group said in unison.

* * *

**Yuri's house**

Rukia is sitting on Yuri's bed at his side, he was still asleep. Even though she was supposed to be watching him the entire time, she went out earlier to scout around the city for hollow activity. She face-palmed herself realizing how much of an idiot she was to leave him alone, since he is as of now completely vulnerable and any hollow can storm in and kill Yuri in his sleep. But she relaxed herself knowing that Tessai is _cleaning house_. She rose up and walked over to the table to pick up Noba, who was still in pill form and place it in Yuri's mouth. Yuri's soul was ripped out of his body again and he fell to the floor. Noba, now occupying Yuri's body, is still fast asleep. Which is good considering the body itself was still recovering. Yuri on the other hand, got a rude wakening and stood up, feeling every bone in his body creak as he rose.

"Good, it's about time you woke up." Rukia said to him plainly.

Yuri rubbed the back of his head and shook off the tiredness. "Ow, now that's no way to wake anyone up." Yuri joked. "So what's up?"

"Everyone seems to have gone to speak with Urahara about something. They should be back soon though." Rukia told him. Yuri nodded, sat on the chair behind him, and leaned back. "So for now all we can do is wait until they come around."

"And Repede went with them huh?" Yuri said noticing that he isn't in his bed as usual. "Oh well, I guess Judith and Karol can take care of him." Yuri smirked as he relaxed in his cushioned chair.

The moment was silent, until Rukia spoke out in a low voice. "Listen Yuri, I'm really sorry that this is happening to you."

Yuri sat up straight, in confusion on Rukia's statement. "What do you mean? Things have gotten pretty sour around the time, but hey, we're still here."

"But," Rukia was about to continue, but Yuri's gang walked in and she was cut short. "Never mind." Rukia turned to face the others. "So how did it go?"

Karol walked forward. "Well here's the scenario as it is now." Karol then began to explain what happened in their conversation with Urahara and Yoruichi, along with the support of Flynn and Rita to help clarify things. Yuri, when he was first hearing this, was uncomfortable. But afterwards when they finished explaining he felt a refreshing relief pour over him as his seat became even more relaxing then it already was.

Yuri threw out a sigh of content, and stood up. "I would be more exited, but I'm temporarily crippled at the moment so sorry for not getting excited."

"Wait, I thought you were going to talk us out of it. Didn't you say before that you never wanted us to get involved?" Flynn spoke with a curious tone and concerned look.

"The only reason why I never wanted you to fight a battle that you can never win. If what you say is true, and you can get the ability to fight against the hollows, then I have no objections." Yuri said to the group as he placed his hand on his hip. "It's actually good on my part too. All this time I have always worried about your safety since you couldn't fight them before period. "

"Yuri." Karol said with a mellow tone.

"C'mon boss, don't get all sappy on me now, I just woke up." Yuri joked with a wide grin. "When do you guys start?"

"Tomorrow, we'll take Ba'ul to get to Urahara's shop while Repede and Flynn train here." Judith said to him with her arms crossed behind her.

"I guess I will have to see you guy's off then? You better not leave without me knowing alright?" Yuri said to the group with a commanding tone. All of them nodded in agreement. "Good, now I'm going to take a stroll for now so I'll be back, anyone want to join though?" Repede gave a approving bark, and Karol raised his hand.

Before Yuri could move though, Karol gave out a gasp as if he realized something. He reaches into his bad and pulls out a garment. Upon closer inspection, it was the _Dark Enforcer_ outfit that Yuri was wearing along with his hat, before it got shredded. "I got it fixed up since we changed you into those regular badge pants and shirt."

Yuri's face grew a bit brighter in joy as he grabbed hold of them. "Thanks a lot Karol; this was my favorite outfit too." Yuri places it in the draw to wear later, since he was in soul form and wearing a different uniform now. "Now how about that stroll?"

"I'll come to." Rukia said out loud as she stood up next to Yuri.

"Then it's settled, let's go guys." Yuri finalized and left the room with a company of three.

* * *

**A/N And thus ends another chapter. So yeah, Yuri's group is going to get some training under Urahara and Yoruichi now. How much strength will they get back or how much more powerful will they become? Find out in the next chapter coming in…hopefully 4 days. Subscribe, Review, Fav, or email. Whatever you feel like doing.**


	11. Training Time

**A/N Well it's a new day and a new chapter. Sorry I took so long to get this done, I had writers block in my head for a few days so my mind was blank for while -.-U. So yeah there will be some sap and fluff and such along with a shining moment for a few characters. Anyway enjoy.**

* * *

Third Person View

**Zaphias Lower Quarter Fountain**

Rukia was sitting on a bench outside of Yuri's house after they finished their walk around the city. Yuri and Repede went off to go talk to Flynn about some details on what he is going to do about his position and his training. Rukia sighed, feeling bored with nothing to do and a little bit depressed. She got up and started to stroll around town to get her mind settled instead of sitting around and rotting on the bench. Hopefully she would find something to do. She exited the Lower Quarter and found herself in the market district of town. Even with the massive amounts of people coming in and leaving with their shopping, she still couldn't find anything of interest. She sighed once more before he turned around and went back. On her way however she ran into Judith who is standing up straight with her hand on her forehead while tilting her head up. Rukia tapped her on her shoulder to grab her attention. Judith turned to see the curious Rukia staring at her.

"Hello." Judith said with a friendly smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing really." Rukia said while looking towards the ground.

Judith's smile dropped since the gloomy aura that Rukia was emitting is disrupting her usual attitude. "You seem bored, want to go somewhere just us gals?"

Rukia looks back up and stares at Judith with a confused stare, thinking what Judith could be planning. "Uh sure."

"Great I'll call Ba'ul." Judith replied back and placed her fingers on her forehead again. After a few moments Rukia could hear a soothing roar coming from outside the city. She was startled at that second before Judith put her hand back down. "He's waiting outside, c'mon let's get going."

"O-Ok." Rukia stuttered nervously, questioning what was out there for her to meet. They both walked outside the city and came across a large boat on the land, which appeared od to Rukia that there would be one here. Before she could speak, a large, blue, dragon-like creature rose from the ground behind the trees where it was out of sight. Straps are wrapped around it from the boat in several parts of its body. Rukia gasped and fell back in shock because she never seen something like this before. _It's bigger than a Menos! _She shouted in her head as she rose back up on her feet.

Judith turns around to see Rukia who was still stunned at the site and giggled at her reaction. "This is Ba'ul. He's an Entelexeia and a very close friend to me."

Rukia didn't respond at first, she walked up to the boat and immediately jumped on to get a better look at him. "So this is an Entelexeia. I've only read about them in books since they never go into the spirit world. I never knew they were so, majestic." Rukia said with fascination. She turns to Judith after she jumped up as well. "How long have you known each other?"

"Oh, since I was twelve." Judith said with a jubilant tone. "We've been through a lot since we first met, we're inseparable."

"Really?" Rukia looks back up. "That's really cool."

Judith giggles a little more, and then places her fingers on her head again. A few seconds pass by before Judith says, "Well, ready to go?" Rukia nods with a wide smile on her face. Judith nods after and signals Ba'ul to take off. In a flash Ba'ul sored into the air with the boat, the shock caused Rukia to tumble over since they went from ground level to the skies in a second. Judith extends her hand to Rukia, being one who is used to the high speeds of travel like her group.

Rukia accepted her hand and rose to her feet once more. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay, not everyone stays standing the first time." Judith assured. Although since Rukia has lost most of her power and has to remain in her gigai for extended periods of time, it places her in a more weakened state and sometimes has a hard time with her movements. Rukia clenches her hand, and then reopens it to feel the movements, it was clunky.

"So where to?" Rukia says while putting her hand down and looks to the distance of the sky.

"We're just going to pass by somewhere. It's a rather nice view from up here considering the season." Judith said, crossing her arms. Rukia raised an eyebrow in question, the light pierced through the thick clouds they were over, temporarily blinding her. "Seems we are already here." When Rukia's vision cleared she looked below her and found an immense tree stretching out of the city below it, extending outwards like a giant umbrella with reddish-pink colored petals fluttering in the air around it. Rukia was entranced at the site of it as it gave a soft glow in the area.

"Is this, Halure?" Rukia asked.

"Yes, the tree is in season so it always blossoms around this time." Judith explained to her as they both leaned across the railing. Judith notices Rukia's gaze was enticed into the view and a wide smile is plastered on her face. "It's good to see you are doing better now.

"Huh?" Rukia questioned as she turned to Judith, "What do you mean?"

Judith stands back up straight and looks at Rukia with her usual poker face. "You've been depresses about something for a while and I've taken notice. If there is something bothering you feel free to tell us."

Rukia stood up after Judith's statement was finished and looked directly ay her, then to the ground with hurt eyes. "Sorry, it's just," she sighed, "Ever since I came into the picture and made Yuri do all this for me I've caused him and you guys nothing but grief. He lost two of his closest friends and almost got himself killed several times because I was never around when he needed my help. If it wasn't for Urahara he would probably be dead by now." Judith said nothing and allowed Rukia to continue. "Even if Yuri is fine now I can't help but feel like I demoralized him, and I can't blame Rita for hating me for it."

"Rukia." Judith said exhaling a held breath.

"I'm really sorry for,"

"I've heard enough, you don't have to feel bad about anything like that. I'm sure even through all this hard time that Yuri appreciates that you are here. And I don't blame you for what happened with Estelle or Raven." Judith said. She walked forward until she was a few inches from Rukia and places her hand on Rukia's head. "You're my friend just as you are to Yuri, so don't go on a guilt trip ok?"

Rukia gave a blank stare at Judith since her hand was still planted on Rukia's head. Her eyes and tone reverted to normal. "You do know that I'm older then you by a long shot right?"

"More of a reason to not be so gloomy," Judith removes her hand and crosses her arms. "Being depressed won't help anyone will it?"

Judith's statement struck Rukia in the head, something clicked in her head at which caused her to smile. "Thanks."

"No problem, it's good that you're feeling better. Yuri needs you now until the rest of us get trained to fight as well so take care of him while we're gone."

"Don't worry; I'll take good care of him." Rukia said with an assuring smile.

* * *

**Back at the Castle**

Flynn sits in his room in the castle while he was out of his armor and is only wearing his uniform, writing up different statements and transcripts that need to be done for the events that took place in the not too distant past. It was hard work, but Hisca and Chastel were helping him out with his load on other things that needed to be taken care of. With a large sigh he got up after finishing writing so much and stretched out his arms wide to help get his body running. There was a knock on the door and Flynn called out, "Come in."

A knight in a blue uniform came in and saluted him. "Sir, I'm here to give a status report."

"Go on." Flynn allowed.

"Sir, second in command Sodia has just recovered from her coma not too long ago. Her previous injuries are healed and will be on active duty in three days." The knight said to him. Flynn was speechless on what to say and he looked to the floor with a sad state in his eyes. The first thing that struck his mind was what happened with Estelle and it pinged regret in the back of his mind. "Sir?"

"I'm sorry. Thank you for your report; you may go back to your duties." Flynn said shaking off the thought for the moment. The knight saluted once more and exited the room. For a few moments the room was in silence with Flynn roaming in his thoughts on his next action. He then decided to go see how Sodia was doing at the medical barracks she was placed in. Flynn made his way down the castle halls and down the stairs to the infirmary below n the first floor where all the injured people were. Several beds in many rows were filled with soldiers either too injured to speak or dying. It was a sight that sickened Flynn to the core feeling that he can't do anything to help them. All he could do is to count on the medics to do their job in saving as many as they can. He trailed down the area until he came to a private room where Sodia was kept. He entered and shut the door behind him quietly. He saw Sodia sitting upright on her bed looking out the window to the city in front of her, a rather nice view. Flynn came closer, still unnoticed until he stood at her right side of the bed, which prompted her to turn sharply around. She was caught off guard by his sudden appearance, she wanted to say how glad she was to see him, but it grew too much and she looked towards her bedside not wanting to make eye contact. Flynn sat down next to her on the bed and placed his hand on her shoulder while giving a small smile showing that he was happy to see her awake after what she has been through. Sodia made looked further down in shame, unable to accept Flynn's amnesty after her failure.

Flynn, being more persistent with his actions, pulls Sodia closer to him until she was in his arms in a tight embrace. "It's alright Sodia," Sodia began to sob with her head burying into his chest. "I'm just glad you're alright."

* * *

**The Next Day Outside Zaphias…**

Urahara stood at the outskirts of the city, watching the skyscrapers block the view of the sky in Zaphias as he awaited his trainee's to appear before him. He tapped his hat, scuffed a laugh, and looked up into the sky with calm eyes. His gaze puts him into a trance and the wind makes the atmosphere more comfortable. Yesterday, everyone went to see Yuri and Rukia to tell them about what was happening. Yuri had accepted the facts rather easily according to Flynn when Urahara made a surprise visit to the castle to see Flynn, unnoticed. He talked to him about a few things. His current position right now as the chaos continued, the troubles with the knights, and the casualties that pile up. Flynn has been overpowered lately by the events, and since his Second in command isn't around to fulfill her duties while she is incapacitated he just has more work to deal with. Thankfully, with his friends Chastel and Hisca around to help him out, a lot of stress he has is lifted off. Urahara averts his gaze down as he notices two shadows approaching from his right. "Well then, good to see you made it."

"Yes, thank you for waiting patiently. I managed to get everything settled at the castle." The shadow spoke out. As the light shined it revealed it to be Flynn with Repede to his left. "I managed to get Repede to follow me as well." Repede responded with a confirming bark. "Please teach us what you can" Flynn bows.

"Of course." Urahara claps hands together and suddenly several pillars rise out of the ground and surround the three individuals creating an energized force field in between the gaps. Giving them the freedom to go buck wild and not cause negative influence in the area. "Let's begin the training shall we?"

* * *

**Outside Urahara's shop**

Yoruichi sits outside of the shop, sitting on the post of the railing near the entrance as she awaits her Trainees to appear. Tessai and the kids went out on patrol in the area to clear out any hollows that are lingering at the moment. The shop is only a meeting place though. Since it's a shop people would be passing through a lot, and with the training method they need to do being demanding it would be hard to keep things in check so they will move to a different area once they arrive. After sitting for a good half an hour, Yoruichi heard an echoing roar that signified her that Ba'ul is close by. When she turned to the direction of the sound she saw the group approaching her even though the sound was from afar. Judith, Karol, and Rita were at attendance. It seemed to her that they landed some time ago and Ba'ul's roar was him leaving, not landing.

"Good it seems like everyone is present and accounted for." Yoruichi said as she leapt off the railing onto the ground and walked pass them. As they others turned to look her way, Yoruichi twitched her tail to prompt them into following her. They did so and after thirty minutes of traveling they arrive in a thicket in which the forest is to dense to see through very far. "Now then first thing's first you must open up your body to freely accept spirit energy to flow through it. In order to accomplish that you must close your eyes and let your mind become one with your body and draw out your inner strength." Yoruichi explained while she strolled back and forth.

"That sounds vaguely similar to how an over limit works." Judith spoke out with her opinion.

"Are you sure this is a legitimate training method?" Rita asked

"You questioning it now after you went through the trouble of getting here?" Yoruichi spoke in an intimidating voice. However Rita said nothing in response. "Now then do as I instructed, draw out your inner strength."

Judith does it on the first try. There's like a sky-bluish light drawn towards her that then flows out releases a breeze of wind that came after as she exhaled. Judith could feel a strange energy boiling from within her as it flows throughout her body. "This feeling. It's so odd, but it's somehow comforting. I feel my strength back from when I used to fight before the Adephagos."

"I guess it's like Kisuke said, Krityans really are a natural at this." Yoruichi summarized with a praising tone. She then turns to the other two. "Now about the others." Rita and Karol are both tense as can be indicating that they are making no progress unlike Judith. Yoruichi sighs in discontent. "This is going to take a while."

"Well that's no fun how am I supposed to train without a partner." Judith pouted as she took her usual stance.

"Not to worry Tessai and the others should be here any minute." Yoruichi said as she jumped on top of a rock formation to sit upon while she spectates the other two's development. "Try to get a feel for it on your own since you're so far ahead of everyone else." Judith nodded and walked away with her spear in hand into the forest. Yoruichi turns her attention to Rita and Karol as they continue to struggle. "Figures these two would be the hardest to deal with."

The training continues onward for a few hours more with Rita having better luck then before, but Karol still struggling. Judith had already gotten used to fighting with the new method she was given. While being a natural in having spiritual prowess she also exhibits great combat ability, second to Yuri according to Urahara's description. Yoruichi jumps off the rocks and onto ground level with the other two that are getting the hang of it.

"Let's try this again." Yoruichi said to the group with a sigh. "Rita, you first."

"Right." Rita says out loud as she puts her hand in front of her. She shuts her eyes and calms her breathing allowing a fairly good amount of spiritual energy flow around her. A red aura appeared around her to show the color of her reiatsu as it flows. The energy got more intense as she swung her arms out while crying out, "Fire Ball!" At that moment she sent several fireballs hurling at an unfortunate tree to suffer her wrath. The first that hit it completely incinerated it into dust and the others hit a rock formation the size of Yuri's apartment, leaving a relatively large dent on it. "Alright, that's what I'm talking about!"

"Good work." Yoruichi commented who is impressed with her achievement. She then turns to see Karol "Karol you should," Before Yoruichi could finish her statement, Karol had already exerted his own spiritual power. It had a gold color to it and was flaring around a bit too much, but progress like this was remarkable to Yoruichi. She stares at awe seeing that the three of them got the basics down in a day. Karol took out his Karolian Hammer and took a stance while he was still exerting his reiatsu.

Karol looked toward the rock formation and ran towards it at full speeds until, "Dragon Upper!" Karol swung his hammer in an uppercut movement and destroyed what was left of the stalagmite. He slammed his hammer onto the ground and gave out a satisfying, "Yeah!"

Yoruichi approached them and yelled out, "That's enough training for today. I don't want you all to burn yourselves out in a day." The group comes back together and stands in front of her. "Now we will return to the shop for some rest and we'll pick up on things tomorrow. Eat, drink, and sleep for the rest of the day to get your strength back. Understood?" The group nodded in agreement. "Good, dismissed."

* * *

**A/N And the training begins with everyone already getting the hang of things. What will become of the Vice Captain Sodia now that she has recovered? And what's Yuri up to right now? Anyway see ya next time on Crossing Moons. Review, Subscribe, Fav, whatever floats your boat**


	12. Rukia's Day Off

**A/N Well I'm in collage now so my work is going to be a bit slower than usual. But I will work as hard as I can to get the chapters up as much as possible. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.**

* * *

**Third Person View**

It's been a week since the training has begun and life went on as normal with Rukia and Yuri, if you can call slaying hollows normal. Rukia has noticed that there has been an odd development in strength in Yuri as he continues to fight, as if he is slowly becoming more in tune with his shinigami powers even if they're aren't his own. Now he's been downing A-class hollows in a single swing and the growth scares Rukia to a degree since development that fast is unspeakable. Rukia, as of now, is running around Zaphias looking for Repede who has ran away after she tried to give him a bath, Repede didn't like that even if it was Rukia.

"Repede!" Rukia called out as she continues running. _Dammit where the hell did he go?_ "Repede where are you!"

Elsewhere along the streets of the market district, Hisca and Chastel were walking about, shopping for several items for themselves like food products and such. As they continue walking around they notice Rukia running around the district frantically. Neither of them knew who she was in person, but they were curious when they noticed she was calling out for Repede.

"What is she doing?" Chastel said as she observed the black haired woman running around.

"I don't know, but she said something about Repede." Hisca whispered to her twin.

"Do you think it is the same Repede with Yuri?" Chastel questioned further while turning to face Hisca.

"Dunno, but let's go help anyway. We may be off duty but we got to at least help a civilian." Hisca suggested. With a nod to each other they make approach to Rukia who has stopped to catch her breath.

Rukia bolts up and shouts, "Repede come on this isn't funny!" Rukia's voice then drops to a grumble with a face palm. "Yuri's gonna kill me if he comes back home and I'm there, but Repede isn't."

"Did you just say Yuri?" Hisca said while approaching from behind. Rukia turns around to see the twin knights. "Are you by chance Rukia?"

"Yeah that's me," Rukia responded as she straightened herself out after running so much. She takes a look at both knights before continuing, "You have me at a disadvantage here; I don't believe we've met before."

"Oh" Hisca bolted in realization that introductions weren't made. With that known, she points to herself. "My name is Hisca." Then she points to her twin. "And this is my twin Chastel. We used to be Yuri's superior officer four years ago. Seems like he's given you some trouble?"

"Um actually it's the other way..." Rukia was about to get a bit sappy, but she quickly shook it off because there is something that needs to be done. "Never mind that, have either of you seen a dog pass by through here, purple in color, scar over his left eye and completely sopping wet?"

"Yep, that's Repede. I remember him when he was a puppy." Chastel commented while placing her index finger on her lower lip and looks to the sky as if recalling a memory.

"Yeah and how Yuri and Repede never liked each other before at first." Hisca added. "Anyway we haven't seen him around, usually he's with Yuri."

"Well Yuri's gone for the day and Repede just came back from somewhere with Flynn. So I tried to give him a bath, but then he bolted out the window into town. I know this is strange of me to ask, but could you help me look for him?"

"You tried to give Repede a bath? That reminds me of the time when Yuri did the same," Hisca said while snickering with a grin, remembering the last time Yuri tried that with her watching. "Oh, all those bite marks I had to treat back then." She remembers back when Yuri was covered in them, however she never used healing artes and decided to make him suffer back then with painful medicine. "Sometimes I miss those days."

"Are you going to help me find him or not, he's running around town covered in dirt and grime and soaked to the bone? Yuri's in bad enough relations with the nobles as it is I don't need to make it worse for him." Rukia argued, now a bit irritated with the stalling.

"Ok ok, sheesh. We'll help you out." Hisca submitted.

"I'll go look in the lower quarter." Chastel suggested, she didn't wait for a response though and ran off anyway.

"Then I'll go check the noble district. Rukia, go see if he's in the outskirts of the city. Repede had a tendency to run out there every now and then for some reason." Hisca ordered with a commanding tone. Rukia nodded and ran off herself leaving Hisca by herself before eventually walking to the noble district.

The three of them started searched endlessly for Repede across the city. When it started to become late, they met in front of Yuri's house at the same time. With a sigh they fell back to back with each other and sat upright against the wall showing that all three of them tired and unsuccessful to their search. Rukia didn't think it would be so hard tracking him down since Repede now has a good amount of spiritual pressure that she could sense it. Rukia exhaled a breath that she didn't know she was holding. "Where could he have gone?" She said sadly.

"We searched high and low all over this city and yet he isn't around. It's not like he could teleport or something." Chastel whined. She yawned once to show that she was getting very sleepy at this point and lost most of her energy from running so much.

Hisca did the same. "Don't start," She yawned once more. "Yawning is like a disease, you're making me sleepy as well."

Rukia however remained vigilant and held in her tiredness. "Sorry I made you all waste your time with me today."

"Oh don't worry about it. We know that you've been helping Yuri fight all those Hollows so we know you need a hand too." Hisca said with a grin.

"So you two know as well, Yuri told you didn't he." Rukia questioned

"Actually, Flynn told us. He wanted to make sure that we are aware of what's happening while we take over for him while he's gone training." Chastel clarified to Rukia. "Although, it's a bit of a downer, that we can't do anything but watch while you guys go out and fight."

"Oh, well don't get too down about it. I can't fight either at this point. If anything you all might do a better job at holding them off then I can, if you could see them that is."

"Well actually," Before Hisca can continue her sentence. She froze for a moment and started to snicker, trying to keep herself form laughing. Rukia and Chastel turned to see what was wrong. It was then they saw Yuri walking down the road in his Dark Enforcer outfit along with Repede whose fur has been puffed out for reasons unknown. Rukia only gave a blank stare, not knowing what to say and Chastel was about to laugh but she managed to hold it in, unlike her twin. "Bwahahaha! Repede what happened to you!" Repede gave off a bark of irritation and embarrassment.

"Alright Hisca please calm yourself down. Now what are you three doing sitting in front of my house slouching like that?" Yuri asked the group of females.

Both Hisca and Rukia pass a glare to Chastel. "Eh? Why me!" Chastel sighed. "Alright fine, Rukia here tried to give Repede a bath and he bolted out into town. Then she went running through town looking for him and asked us to help us find him. We couldn't find him and now we're completely exhausted. We looked for him all day."

"What I want to know is why he is with you and why is he all...poofy?" Hisca said while forcing herself not to giggle at Repede's ridiculous sight. Repede yawned and walked over to Rukia's side where he sits down and rests on her lap.

"Well he ran all the way to Urahara's shop to get groomed and such. He really doesn't like taking baths with someone other than me. But i don't know why he rejected you of all people Rukia, you two get along better than anyone...besides Judith. I was lucky to have chased a hollow all the way out there to find him." Yuri said to her with his free hand placed on the wall next to them as he leaned himself to a balance.

"Maybe there are some things Repede only lets you do with him Yuri." Chastel said.

"Well i have taken care of him since he was a few months old." Yuri said remembering the days when Repede was a puppy. He even took care of his father before he eventually past on, not the way Yuri liked though. Repede gave a woof and snapped Yuri out of his trance. "Oh, thanks Repede." Repede barked again as a _Your Welcome_ gesture.

"Well as much fun as this was we should get going. Come on sis, got to get things ready for tomorrow when captain runs off again." Hisca said standing up from her spot, then helping her sister up on her feet.

"It was nice to meet you in person Rukia." Chastel said cheerfully as Hisca walks ahead of her.

"You take care now." Rukia said in enjoyment of making her new friends. Hisca called out to Chastel telling her to catch up or she'll leave her behind. Chastel bowed respectfully to Rukia. To Yuri, she gave a brief tight hug and spun around to begin running for her twin.

Yuri stood back up straight and looked over to Rukia. "So, i see you got acquainted with my friends there."

"How come you never mentioned them before? I met all your other friends." Rukia questioned to Yuri. She wasn't particularly mad about it but she thought it would be nice to know some more of his friends.

"Well we never see each other much often since they are in the knights and i usually stay away from them. Flynn is the only exception to that rule though." Yuri told Rukia straight out.

"What makes Flynn so special?" Rukia inspected further.

"We grew up together in the lower quarter, so we're pretty tight. Even though, at one point in our previous adventure we were _this_ close from killing each other.

"I see." Rukia said, not wanting to question further on the events knowing that would give a negative impact to the current conversation. Still sitting down, she looks at Repede who still has his head resting on her lap and pushes lightly with her index finger on Repede's nose. "You need to stop running off and trying to give me a heart attack you know." Repede gave a bark, then a slight whine as placed his head upon Rukia's shoulders.

"He'll be more lenient next time." Yuri assured her.

"That's all I ask," Rukia said while she gets up from her spot and brushes off the wrinkles and dust form her skirt. "Come on, let's go inside" Yuri nodded and walked with her from behind back into his apartment. In that time, Rukia sat down on the chair with Repede sitting beside her. Yuri stood up next to her and looked at Rukia attentively. However the expression on Rukia's face says something is wrong. "Listen Yuri, things are getting hectic in soul society as of late concerning the recent outbreaks of hollows in the area. Strangely enough, it's only happening in select locations."

"So you're saying that I should watch my back and such right?" Yuri thought out loud.

Rukia shook her head. "No, I'm just wanted to let you know since you've been around the world so a few of these locations you may know. The city of Dahngrest is having some issues as of late, but the shinigami that is stationed there has things under wraps. Nordopolica is the same way."

"Are they doing alright though?" Yuri asked now a bit concerned about the situation.

"So far they are doing fine. They haven't been overrun like we did so the other cities don't have as much to deal with. Basically," Rukia drew a breath before continuing, "We got the short end of the stick."

Yuri chuckled to Rukia's comment about their situation. "Well that figures. I always have been considered to be cursed so no surprise there." Yuri joked.

"Anyway, I'm going to go out and grab some supplies from the market since I have my free time now." Rukia declared as she rose from her seat and made her way to the door. "And Yuri," Rukia turned her head until her eyes locked onto Yuri's. "Thanks for bringing Repede back." Yuri said nothing to this; all he did was smile warmly right back. Rukia returned with one of her own and walked out the house. Yuri, as of now, plops on his bed and takes out Noba from his pouch and ingested him, forcing Yuri out of his body and into soul form.

Noba, now housing Yuri's body, sits up and looks towards Yuri. "Is something wrong?"

"Not at the moment. I just thought you could get out more often besides fighting and have a chat." Yuri said to Noba as he sat in a chair in front of him. "I got nothing better to do right now so I can afford to relax."

* * *

**Hueco Mundo (Unknown location)**

Zagi was sitting upon the white sands of Hueco Mundo, feeling full after his hunt. Normally, he would be in the forest of Menos hunting down other Adjuchas like himself to devour along with the hollows but that proved to be useless now that he feels his strength no longer growing. He grew disappointed; however something inside of him said that it wasn't the end of the road for him, that his strength did not have to end where it did. With a roar of pride he called out to the nearby hollows that were in the area. Swarms upon swarms came after him and many Gillians came along as well. The Adjuchas stood before him with question on why he summoned them. If it was for naught, they would not hesitate to devour him.

Zagi leaped forward to the closest one in front of him, took him by surprise and killed him. With a swift movement he devoured him in very few bites. Zagi rose back up to face all the others that were in complete shock. "Come! There are only two things that we can do is either evolve, or DIE!" with that declaration the other hollows jumped towards him with the intent to kill…

One after another the hollows fell to the ground at his feet as each one tried to take his head. Even the Menos' joined the battle against him and all of them fired their Ceros at him in barrages. However they were ineffective as Zagi swerved left and right to dodge them until he managed to get into the crowd of them. Once then, the Menos' began to fall like trees were getting cut down as Zagi hacked away from below. The fighting continued on, a never ending swarm keeps creeping closer and Zagi has no intention of stopping his rampage. Even the Adjuchas have been having a hard time subduing him now even though they are at the same level of strength.

For hours the battle waged on and eventually, Zagi was victorious against the onslaught he had attracted to him. Several hundreds of hollows were now within Zagi as they were devoured. With the feeling of content from the destruction he left, Zagi leaped to the exit of the forest and outside the white sands once more. He stares out to the distance to see a large dome structure in front of him.

"I guess it's time to turn in for the day. I got to get checked out by that pink haired bastard again." Zagi said to himself as he walked forward to the direction of the structure. He didn't like the fact that he needed to go there just to keep him from getting out of hand against the wrong people, but even then he didn't really care. All he wanted was to face Yuri Lowell again when they can have a true fight. Zagi will do anything he can to make sure that day comes.

* * *

**A/N Well that's it for the new chapter. Sorry for it being so short considering the time spam given. Since I'm now in college I don't have as much free time as I did before so things are slower. However in the next chapter things will truly start to get rolling to what you've been waiting for. Anyway see ya all later and subscribe if you haven't done so already.**


	13. Enforcers

**A/N Well, it's a new chapter and a new day…or rather two weeks into the future because nothing interesting happens besides Yuri ripping the mess out of Hollows and the other's training. NOW, we get rolling with the story. Be prepared to face people you will never want to F**k with in your lifetime. Read on!**

* * *

**Third Person View (2 weeks later / Afternoon) **

**Zaphias town square**

Noba is sitting down on a bench near the fountain in his gigai that was given to him not to long ago by Urahara thanks to the request of Yuri. His ninja-like attire made him stand out like he was some sort of mercenary since his face was mostly hidden away. Yuri was out of his body hunting hollows in the outskirts of the area so they left the actually body in his apartment. Noba was actually stationed there by Yuri to help keep watch in the area for any hollows that trolled along while Yuri was gone. If for some reason a hollow did attack, Noba would immediately spring to action in a heartbeat to neutralize the threat. The main reason why Noba wasn't in Yuri's body was because he didn't want it to get damage during Noba's fights, so when Yuri comes back in his body he doesn't get the added package of pain. SO far though, no hollows were sighted. To Noba who knows the situation well enough, he finds it odd that the rate of hollows appearing decreased significantly in such a short amount of time.

"Strange." Noba said to himself thinking of the current state of affairs. "Could there possibly be a secondary party here that is influencing the area?" Noba began to think of several theories in his head as to what could allow such a sheer drop of the rate of attacks. With all his thinking though he could only come up with two explanations. First, being that the city of Zaphias is now a dry husk of worthy souls for Hollows to devour besides Yuri, Rukia and himself. Or, that there is a new powerful entity entering the city that drove away most of the hollows in the area. "If there really is a person powerful enough to drive away A-ranked hollows, then it must be a dangerous person." With that said he looks up to the sky and stares at the birds that are flying overhead along the clouds. "But I can't feel its presence. I just hope it's not a foe."

* * *

**Outskirts of Zaphias**

Yuri was outside the city at one point slaying hollows again, but now he's just lying down on a patch of grass. He finished clearing out the area not too long ago so he decided on taking a little break before going back to Noba. Repede was lying next to him on his belly, also relaxing ever since his training finished for the day and he hung with Yuri for the rest of the time. The sun was setting right now so the horizon looked rather nice to both of them. Sadly, Yuri had to get going before dark. Judith and Rukia are taking time off today so he needs to get their errands done for the day. Even though Yuri is the one always working the hardest, he does take the time to help make life easier for his friends when he gets the chance.

"Might as well get going now. A little R & R would do them some good." Yuri said to himself as he stretched himself out and stood up. "Let's go Repede." Repede barks in confirmation and walks with him back to the city.

* * *

**City Square of Zaphias. (Night Time)**

Rukia and Judith were circling around the area since a big festival started in town. Most of the time they were watching the jesters make a fool out of themselves and Judith couldn't help but be snarky with them every time she gets. This drove Rukia into hysterical laughter every moment she did. Rukia was messing around with games that were set up for the prizes. Of course, she was most interested in the large stuff animal bunny that was on display. When she tried the first time, she ended up failing to hit the target with the toy bow-gun. Judith however, improvised. Instead of using the bow-gun to hit her target, she took out her spear and threw it dead on and knocked over the stand.

"Does this mean I win?" Judith questioned. The owner of the stand didn't want to comment or even have her near the area anymore so he just gave the grand prize to her and ran away. "I guess that's a yes." Judith handed over the stuff animal to Rukia. "Here ya go. That was fun, just let me get my spear." Judith jumped into the wreckage of wood, metal, and cloth to retrieve her spear. Leaving the baffled Rukia behind to wonder why she just destroyed the stand in the first place.

When Judith jumped out, Rukia had already shaken off the thought because oddly, she was having fun. "Thanks." Rukia said grateful to the prize she gave her. "But it seems you caused some trouble." Rukia pointed down the street, several knights were running to the area they were in.

"Oh dear, time to make our escape then." Judith said as they both took off into the alleyways of the town. It didn't take them long to escape from them since Judith is too agile to catch that easily, Rukia the same way. They then stopped in the middle of the alleyway, realizing that they aren't being chased anymore. "Well, that was fun wasn't it?"

Rukia, who was panting a bit, chuckled a bit before answering back, "Never a dull moment with you Judith." Rukia then slowed her breathing back to normal. "Did you really have to wreck the guy's cart though?"

"Sorry, force of habit." Judith replied back remembering the days when she flew around and smashed Hermes Blastia across the world. "I guess you can say that besides fighting I had _other_ hobbies."

"I see, how interesting." Rukia commented wondering what Judith meant by her statement. "Anyway, we shouldn't stay here at this time. Let's get back so we don't worry Yuri too much."

"Oh don't worry about him, he wouldn't be worried about us right now at this point. He does trust us ito not get ourselves in trouble."

"Even though you just did in a few moments ago?" Rukia teased.

"Very funny." Judith shot back with a grin. She turns to the direction of the lower quarter. "I suppose we could call it a night. I need to get back to Urahara's shop for training tomorrow."

"Then let's get going before it becomes later than it already is." Rukia said to Judith. Both did as was decided and began to walk down the path to Yuri's apartment. Both felt content with their day together as two friends who needed a break. Judith could have gone with Rita but she would probably spoil her mood since Judith is doing much better in training then her. Karol is still just a kid, even if he is her boss she would be limited in what she could do. Rukia was the best choice other than Yuri; he had to do another night run for the city. She does feel kind of bad for him today though, the load of work that Judith and Rukia had to do was unloaded on to Yuri for them to have a free day. Rukia probably felt the same, thinking that she put too much on his plate today.

With her thoughts running like wildfire in her head, she failed to notice that Rukia fell behind a bit. Judith backtracked a bit to find out what was wrong. When she got there Rukia was frozen stiff, as if something spooked her. Judith turned around, feeling the presence of two individuals behind her. The first one she saw was dressed in similar black garments to what Yuri was wearing when he went into soul form along with his noticeable red hair tied in a high ponytail and tribal tattoos. The second one was also dressed similarly but with a white head piece in his dark colored hair and a same colored scarf wrapped around his neck.

"Oi! About time we found you Rukia." The red-haired one said

"Oh, friends of yours?" Judith asked Rukia with a slight grin when she turned to face her. However Rukia made no response to her question and still had a look of shock, but Judith wasn't paying attention to Rukia's reaction since she was facing the red-haired one right after her question.

"Well you can see us? That's interesting." The red-haired one said.

"Yes i can, your standing in front of me are you not?" Judith said with a mocking tone. "Shinigami from Soul Society I assume?"

This action only makes the man chuckle. "So you know of us?" The red haired one questioned. "Cute. Say, you seem like a reasonable enough young lady." He summarized to himself. "We're not here to cause any trouble. Just hand Rukia over to us and you can go on your way as if everything were normal."

Rukia did not say anything to that, but Judith was different. "Hand her over?" Judith was now getting defensive since she feels evil intent from the men in front of her. "I understand by your attire that you're form Soul Society, but who exactly are you guys?" With her question asked, she placed her right hand on the pole of the spear that was strapped on her back, ready to draw it out in a moment's notice.

"There's no reason to get defensive. If you're associated with Rukia in any fashion to be able to see us and that you are aware of Soul Society, then I can assume you know enough about what we are in general." The black haired one said to the already apprehensive Judith.

"I knew this day would come eventually." Rukia said to herself.

"Rukia?" Judith said as he turned to face Rukia with a questioning expression on her face, but Rukia did not answer back and stood still while looking to the ground with sadness.

"We're only here to collect Rukia in accordance with the law of Soul Society." The black-haired shinigami said. "In order for Rukia to receive her punishment for the crime she committed."

"Nii-sama." Rukia softly exhaled, but Judith didn't catch wind of her statement and turned sharply back around to face them.

"Punishment for what!" Judith questioned now irritated from what she was hearing. "As far as I'm concerned she has done more good than anything."

"So you didn't tell them Rukia?" The red-haired one said. "Tch, what a surprise." He sneered.

"Rukia Kuchiki is under arrest for the fabrication of one Substitute Soul Reaper." The black-haired one explained to Judith. "A high class crime by nature, you're cooperation miss would be very beneficial to the situation. If you would kindly point us in the direction of the Substitute in question and give Rukia to us we will leave you alone." He continued with his bargain.

"Wait, what are you going to do if i tell you?" Judith questioned to him, knowing full well that it was Yuri they were after next.

"Disposal." Byakuya replied coldly.

"Don't!" Rukia cried out to the two men. "Yuri's innocent! Do what you will with me, but don't kill Yuri!"

"Sorry Rukia, but surely you understand the severity of the situation?" The red-haired shinigami said. "Shall I Captain Kuchiki?"

"Renji!" Rukia shouted in protest. With the conversation continuing, Judith had already drawn her weapon and was ready to fight at this point. "Judith, wait a sec-"

"I don't fully understand what's going on" Judith interrupted. "But if you intend to hurt a friend of mine then I'll just have to drive you away." She grips her spear tighter and takes her battle stance.

"Renji." Byakuya said, as if he didn't need words to tell Renji what needs to be done.

"I hear ya," With those words said, he drew his sword from its sheath and stood in front of Judith with his blade pointing at her. "I'd rather not have to maim a pretty little thing like yourself, but if you're going to get in our way, you don't leave me much choice."

"You shouldn't judge on looks!" Judith shouted as she leapt forward. With her spear pointing forward, she leapt into the air in a somersault and slammed her spear down onto Renji's blade, pushing him into the ground a bit. "It will get you killed!" She then shifted her spear from the deadlock and knocked him away. "Lunar Rondo!" She spun several times, and with her new way of fighting using spiritual energy she was dealing more damage than before when the energy swirled around her like a twister. It knocked Renji back farther, but he recovered from the attack and brushed off the dust he collected. When Renji looked up to see where Judith was, she was not seen anywhere in his sights until, "Moonbeam!" With a battle cry she through her spear from directly above Renji and it impacted him, resulting in a bluish explosion that forced him on his knees. The spear returned to Judith once she landed on the ground next to Rukia and assumed her fighting stance again. "Had enough?"

Renji got up from where he was slammed down on. However, even with his clothing in tatters he chuckled at the Krityan. "Whew, that was actually pretty good; you're not that bad of a fighter." Renji commended. "Too bad it's all going to go to waste now." Renji's sword began to glow a bright crimson color and eventually his own body gave off the same glow.

"What is that?" Judith questioned softly to herself.

"No! Judith get out of here!" Rukia pleaded.

"Too late for that!" Renji exclaimed

* * *

**Yuri's location**

Repede shot up from the bed he was in at Yuri's apartment and walked over to the window. He sniffed a few times and then started to growl fiercely. Yuri, who was sitting next to Noba after coming back from their hollow hunt, shot up as well with Noba following after.

"What is it boy?" Yuri asked with a little bit of concern. "Is it another hollow?" Yuri asked again.

"No." Noba cut in. "Something more powerful, something worse." Repede then began to bark fiercely now and leapt out the window. Noba and Yuri looked at each other and nodded, not needing words to know what they need to do right now. They leapt out the window to follow Repede from wherever he was going. But as they were following him, they felt another presence of a hollow in the area. "A strangler?" Noba began to run in the direction of the Hollow. "I'll take care of it. Keep going"

Yuri nodded. "Alright, don't get killed now okay?" Noba nods back and runs off to the hollows location. Now it's just Yuri and Repede together again and neither of them was slowing down for anything. However at some point, another hollow appeared in front of them and it bared them from their path. Repede jumped forward to challenge it while giving Yuri the chance to run ahead. Repede barked twice and pointed in the direction Yuri should travel with his tail. "That way huh? Thanks buddy." With another bark, Yuri took off.

* * *

**Judith's location**

At the same time while Yuri was heading in their direction, Judith was already defeated. Bruised, battered, and cut, Judith laid on the ground close to losing consciousness. There were no words on how frustrated she was that she lost to him, but now she can't even left herself up, much less her own blade.

"I told you not to get in the way. You can only blame yourself for challenging me." Renji said to his victim. "Although I am quite shocked that I had to pull out my sword's released form to actually take you down. Not many can I do that to you know."

"Judith?" Rukia said softly in concern of her friend that took a load of hurt. She couldn't believe that Judith would look the way she did now and took a few steps back in horror. She had the urge to run forward to help her, but before she moved an inch more Yuri Lowell came storming into the scene from behind her. "Yuri!" Rukia turned sharply around to see the Raven-Haired swordsman standing in front of her. He stopped short, noticing Judith lying on the ground bleeding out.

"Y-Yuri?" Judith said faintly, her wounds prevent her from saying anymore or even to move from where she was. Once then, she finally blacked out. Rukia then took the chance to run to her aid while Renji and Byakuya were eyeing Yuri right now.

"Sorry we had to trash friend there pal, but when it comes to those who obstruct justice, I don't mess around Yuri Lowell."

Yuri didn't need to say much to Renji after his comment. He simply took out his sword and took his stance. "I don't really need to ask anything." Yuri said with a fierce tone and look on his face. "But just out of sheer curiosity, what the hell is this all about."

"It's simple really." Renji said in an arrogant tone. "You, Yuri Lowell, are by Soul Society's orders under arrest by being fabricated to be a Substitute Soul Reaper, Rukia as the transferee is also under arrest and coming with us." Renji explained to the already pissed off Yuri Lowell. "While her punishment could vary from long service in prison to execution, you're punishment is death by my hand." With a grin, he points to Judith who is still lying on the ground. "Your friend there didn't seem to take too kindly to that so she tried to fight me." He snickers before finishing his statement. "You can see the results-"

While Renji was gloating, Yuri launched an Azure Edge merely centimeters away from hitting his fist. "Keep gloating, and next time I won't miss." Yuri growled intensely. Before Renji could say anything back Yuri lunged forward and was already on him with a deadlock. Renji barely manages to push him off while grunting; he could feel the malicious intent to kill emitting from him. But as he looked at him more, he was rather composed even in his rage. Renji already needed to get serious, but his next move was interrupted by another attack, "AZURE STORM!"

Renji blocked the first blow, but did not notice the second one that was coming and it struck him at the side of his head. He was panting, loss of goggles, a torn sleeve, bleeding from shoulder, and wincing with right eye, all from one attack. "Damn it, you're this strong and you're sword is not even released yet!" Renji said as he continues to pant. "It looks I got to call it out." He restores his breathing and cried out, "Roar! Zabimaru!" With his war cry, his sword then began to morph and changed a bit longer then before along with other features like pegs sticking out of the blade in a pattern of sorts.

"What the heck was that!" Yuri exclaimed while back-stepping, knowing he should keep his distance from the unknown with an enemy like Renji.

"Huh? You don't know?" Renji questioned in shock. "Well I'll be, you're just a novice. I thought you were something to be afraid of, but you're just a punk with a lot of power. I bet you don't even know you're Zanpakuto's name."

"My Zanpakuto's name?" Yuri questioned.

"Well then allow me to explain the basics. You see each Zanpakuto comes with a name they are essentially a part of the Soul Reaper, they are born and they die with them. And the name of mine is Zabimaru!" Renji then swung his sword forward and fired it, revealing that it was a segmented balde that is whip like in nature. Yuri dodged by ducking and then leapt up to avoid the second strike. The third strike Yuri parried and the blade returned to normal. "Heh, looks like you're not much of an amateur at all with your sword I can see."

"Don't know what you're saying," Yuri stated not caring about the deal with his Zanpakuto. "But i got a trick too!" Yuri then started to emit a wave of energy from his body until, "I"LL BLOW YOU AWAY!" with a shout, the wave of energy shot out in a shockwave and then he began to glow with a bluish aura.

"What the hell!" Renji exclaimed while Yuri lunged forward. Renji swung his sword in retaliation, but Yuri vanished in front of him which made Renji stop in the middle of his attack in confusion.

"Ghost wolf!" Yuri cried out from behind as he swung his sword horizontally across Renji's back, cutting deep and leaving a rather large wound. "Brutal Fang!" Not wanting to give him a chance to counter, Yuri then delivered several punches in rapid succession straight to the wound that he gave him and caused Renji to choke on his own pain. With a sudden burst of light Yuri charged spiritual energy into himself more potently then before. "Divine Wolf Storm! With multiple combs from his sword that is more powerful than before, Yuri continued to lay waste on Renji as he continued to beat him senseless up to the point he unleashes his final blast of wind onto him and launches Renji forward into the ground and stamps him flat down with his foot.

"No way." Rukia said softly while she saw Renji standing in victory without much of a scratch.

"You mistake was testing my patience. Now stay down and crawl back into the hole you came from." Yuri said rather irritably. With Renji out of the picture rather quickly, Yuri turns to see the other shinigami that was spectating the fight so far. Yuri pointed his sword towards him and declared. "You're next."

"Pity." Byakuya said while drawing out his sword rather casually. "It seems I need to take matters into my own hands."

"No!" Rukia cried out.

"You want revenge?" Yuri said over his head and reverts back into his battle stance. "Bring it!"

"Hmph." The shinigami was not amused by his gesture. With Yuri charging at him now, Byakuya commented, "You're slow." He then vanished from his sight and reappeared behind Yuri, stabbing him twice through his back and out his chest, in a one-second-interval.

Yuri falls to the ground, also noticing several other slashes across his body. _When did he get me! _Yuri exclaimed in his head in confusion. The other two attacks that impaled him caused him to spew blood from them, causing him to bleed out profusely.

"Even when you are falling you are slow." The victor stated while his back was turned to Yuri. "Your powers are gone, your strength diminished, you will never turn you blade up to anyone or anything ever again." After that, Renji rose up from the ground, completely wrecked, but still able to move after his beating.

"YURI!" Rukia cries out as she rushes to him, but Renji grabs her by the arm to bar her from proceeding.

"He's finished Rukia, let him be, there's no point in worrying over a dead guy." Renji said to Rukia. "If you go near him another 20 years will be added to your sentence."

"So what, it's my fault he got dragged into this in the first place so what does it matter if I go to him!"

"So in other words, even if your punishment worsens you would still want to be at the side of this despicable young man?" Byakuya questioned with irritation. "I know his type; you need not waste your time with filth like him. You are a Kuchiki, a member of nobility so act like one."

"Nobles?" Yuri said still retaining his conscious. "It figures you would be one of them considering your attitude right now." Yuri rose up slightly to speak more clearly. "You're all the same no matter how many of you i look a. What is it that makes you nobles different then us?" Yuri continues while growling under his breath in frustration. "Your speech, you tone, it's exactly the same as the ones around here. Thinking that you're all the way on top and the rest is nothing worth mentioning." "From what i made out with what you said, i can say that i killed people just like you in the past."

"Killed people like me in the past?" Byakuya asked with a look of confusion. "If any noble could be killed by one such as yourself they're not worthy of such a title. You should be thankful you have your life right now rookie." Byakuya finished and turned to Renji and Rukia. "Let's go." Byakuya said as he made his way towards Renji and Rukia. But he was stopped by Yuri as he grabbed his ankle.

"If that's the case, you don't deserve that title any more than they did." Yuri said to him

"Let go rookie." Byakuya ordered coldly.

With Byakuya's order, Yuri denied it and looked up to him with a fierce gaze. "Prove me wrong that you aren't like the rest. That you don't trample on the ones you call inferior."

"I don't have anything to prove to the likes of you." Byakuya stated preparing to draw out his blade once more to permanently remove Yuri's arm. However Rukia, who fought her way out of Renji's grasp, came running from the side and kicked Yuri's hand off of him. Yuri, now stunned, looks up to Rukia with perplexing eyes for her action.

"That's enough Yuri." Rukia said to him with a sad tone. "Stop before you make things worse for yourself." Yuri didn't have anything to say to her, he could only stare and wonder why she gave in to him so easily. Rukia turns to Byakuya and says, "I'll go now, just leave him be. It's not worth the trouble after what you just did Nii-sama. Take me to Soul Society I humbly accept my sins and punishment."

"Wait, Rukia!" Yuri shouted as hard as he can. Rukia turned her head to him momentarily.

"If you come after me I will never forgive you." Rukia said to Yuri with tears flowing from her eyes. "So just forget me and live while you can."

"Renji, if you would." Byakuya said not needing to point out the details to have him understand. With a swish of his hand, Renji then opens the Senkaimon and everyone walks through leaving the already stunned and dying Yuri on the ground. Feeling defeated, he tried his best to scream, but as the bleeding became more profuse, he fell unconscious to the ground face first in his own puddle of blood.

* * *

**A/N So yeah, Yuri lost, Judith got wrecked, both are dying and Rukia was taken. Lots of "Oh Shit" moments popped up so things are getting a bit hectic now than before. Anyway the next chapter is in three days so stay tuned. Review, Subscribe or fav if you haven't done so. Questions or comments needed to ask me directly and you don't have a fanfic account? **

**Email me at: espier 94 yahoo . com (remove spaces to email since the site would automatically delete it if its a url)**


	14. What Must Be Done

**A/N Yuri is defeated by the overpowering force of Byakuya, Rukia has been taken, Judith is not in a well condition, and Yuri has lost all of his power. Things aren't looking too hot for him anymore. Anyway, read on!**

* * *

**Third Person View**

Yuri was last seen on the streets of Zaphias along with Judith, dying with the severe injuries covering both of them. It was raining now; clouds darkened the sky above making it hard to see. A shadow looms over them, his face and appearance hidden, and an ominous aura emits in the area as both are scooped up by another individual whose features are also hidden, but it can still be made out to be a tall muscular man. They are placed on his shoulders and he followed the other individual to wherever he may be going. A bolt of lightning shook the air and its light revealed Urahara walking in front of Tessai.

"My old friend, what is it that we should do with these guys now?" Tessai asked.

"I can't say, that's entirely," Urahara turns and points his cane directly at Yuri who is unconscious on Tessai's shoulders. "Up to him."

Tessai gave a grunt before speaking again. "Then we should hurry before they die on my shoulders here. These garments aren't exactly easy to clean." Tessai joked as he sprinted out into the distance ahead of Urahara who was forced to grab a hold of his hat so it wouldn't be blown away. After a few moments, Tessai was gone, molded into the darkness of night even though his footsteps can be heard like the thunder in the rain.

"At least he will be back at the shop in no time." Urahara said to himself somberly. He looks up to the sky, rain trickling on his face and the lightning flashes once more with a thunderous boom. "So it has begun, I was expecting it sometime but I didn't think it would be this soon."

* * *

**Urahara's Shop, 1 hour after arrival**

Yuri was under the covers of his futon that Tessai placed him into after he was treated. He slowly began to awake as he shifted slightly around in them. His eyes opened slightly, then wider, and then they shut suddenly as the pain seeped into him sharply in his body. He cringes into a ball and slowly tries to straighten himself out. Once he does he gasps for breath, trying to remember what caused him this pain. He remembers it clearly now, the face of that man he defeated, and the one named Byakuya who took him out without effort or remorse. He took in one more breath and sat up, brushing aside the pain that surged around his body.

"Where am I?" Yuri said to himself as he looked around the room. It was a traditional Japanese bedroom with the paper-like doors and such, although lighting in here was pretty dim. He looked at himself from under his more clearly as his hazy vision began to dissipate. His chest was bare; multiple battle scars can be seen all over him from the countless battles he fought, more than any normal person can ever do, his feet were bare as well. Besides the bandages that covered sections of his torso and legs, he was only wearing loose badge slacks. Yuri willingly let his body fall to the right of him even though he was sitting down, but his head landed on someone.

Yuri rose back up in a sitting position in surprise to apologize for his action, but he was speechless to find that it was Judith that was sleeping next to Yuri, in the same futon as him. The first thought in his head was confusion, and then it quickly went to anguish. He remembered more of what had happened; she was cut down by the red-headed one named Renji, brutally. She was barely alive at that time, and all that Yuri could do right now was curse himself out on how he was not only incapable of saving Rukia, but failing to protect Judith as well when he was needed the most. Yuri slammed his fist down in rage, even with his injuries and the cushioning of the futon he managed to make a dent to the wooden floor with his growing anger inside of him. His anger though, wasn't only pointing to how he was unable to protect his friends, but also to the words Byakuya spoke.

_Your powers are gone, your strength diminished, you will never turn you blade up to anything ever again._ Byakuya's words echoed in his head. Yuri grew more upset, losing his strength already bad enough when the Adephagos was defeated, but now at this point, he lost his ability to fight completely.

While Yuri was still in his mind about the past events, Judith herself was waking up just as he did. She looked up once he vision cleared, seeing Yuri's face as it looked like it was in pain. She brought out the urge to speak, weakly, "Yuri?"

Her voice broke Yuri's trance and his eyes opened with one part shock and one part joy. "J-Judy! Are you alright?" Yuri was about to give her a barrage of questions about her health after her near-death experience, even though he went through the same thing at a much larger scale.

"I'm fine," Judith said to him with a little more strength in her voice. She tried to sit up after getting out from under the covers, but she winced as she grabbed the left side of her chest with pain in the look on her face. She was wearing a badge t shirt but left he stomach exposed, and same colored shorts that only dropped past her thighs.

Yuri reached over to her and laid her back down. "Don't exert yourself Judy. You took a pretty nasty beating."

"I know, but by looking at you, you're even worse than I am." Judith stated to Yuri. His gaze drifted to the side, not wanting to admit to her the truth, nor did he want to tell her what happened after she was taken out. "Why don't you lie down too?"

"I slept enough." Yuri said in an unconsciously firm tone. However Judith did not avert her gaze when Yuri looked at her again. "What?"

"What happened Yuri? I know you definitely have lost considering how you are now, but you're more on edge than ever." Judith said worryingly and now she had a look of concern on her face, a rare expression for her. ""And what about Rukia?" She sat up; now her own pain subsided and looked at Yuri waiting for a response. To Judith's surprise, Yuri reached over and brought her closer to him into a hug. Her head was leaning against his chest; she was caught off guard as his grip around her became tighter.

"I'm sorry Judy." Yuri said. To her, it sounded like it was forced out of him with much strain. She said nothing though, only stayed quiet and thinking on what could have drove Yuri down so much to this point. Even though she was thinking of herself's condition she didn't think that would be the cause since Yuri knows that she is alright. At that moment, she knew that Rukia was taken away.

"Well, nice to know you guys are all snuggly together." A familiar, cheerful voice broke through the silence, causing Yuri and Judith to separate swiftly from each other in uneasiness. The door slide open, revealing Urahara walking in. "Seems you two are well enough now. How are you guys feeling right now?"

"We're fine now, were you eavesdropping on us?" Yuri asked with a glare.

"Oh I wouldn't call it eavesdropping, I would call it untimely arrival. I didn't want to spoil the moment you know." Urahara said his usual demeanor, which didn't make either of them feel any better. "Anyway, you have something you wish to ask me right now?"

"Yeah first off, where are we exactly?" Judith asked.

"You're in my shop at the outskirts of Deidon hold. Tessai got you here in literally ten minutes. You know when that guy hustles it's like he's a tank ready to stomp on anything in his path." Urahara joked as he tapped his cane on the ground. "Although the others haven't caught wind yet that you're here, Repede and Noba have been doing your job in the time bieng. I asked them to do so after letting them know what happened."

"Funny, but now that brings us to the next question. Why are we here?" Yuri asked.

"Well I could've taken you to your house Yuri, but that wouldn't be beneficial to what I'm about to explain to you." Urahara said to Yuri. Yuri sat up completely straight, paying complete attention to Urahara since the tone of his voice went to being serious. "You fought a battle that you should never have been able to walk away from, that goes the same for you too Judith. They are shinigami just like you once were Yuri. They were from Soul Society, more specifically the Seretei. The ones you fought specifically were exceptionally powerful ones that can take out hollows like the ones you fought in only one hit if they felt like it. Byakuya Kuchiki and Renji Abarai, both are members of the Gotei 13."

"I know, I remember Rukia talking about it over breakfast one time." Yuri said.

"Then that saves time for me to explain. They were sent here to deal with Rukia after she transferred her power to you and to hunt you down." Urahara said to Yuri.

"You knew of this and yet you didn't do a thing? Also how do you know those two?" Judith interjected.

"To answer the first question," Urahara stamps his cane down before finishing. "I did know of it, but Rukia asked me not to get involved. As for the second question i knew them because Soul Society comes by every now and then so they pass my shop a lot, so I see a lot of faces along with rumors about others." Urahara walked into the room even further and shut the door behind them. "Besides that, I believe I don't have to point out what's wrong with you Yuri."

Yuri flinched a bit, and then looked away with his hair shadowing his eyes. "So you noticed."

"Noticed what?" Judith asked.

"That all his shinigami powers are gone. I saw it at the last few moments when I got there. Instead of killing you, Rukia pleaded that your life is to be spared, and in return you powers destroyed. Both your soul chain and soul sleep have been destroyed which, in the end, put you back into the position you were in before you met Rukia, maybe lesser." Urahara explained to them. Judith looked directly at Yuri with a sharp turn, but he never met her gaze and instead looked the other way, like he was ashamed.

However after a few moments something came to Yuri's mind and he shot up from the floor and said, "Wait a minute, Byakuya's family name is Kuchiki and Rukia always called him Nii-sama. Doesn't that mean-"

"Yes, just as you may have guessed, they are both siblings." Urahara interrupted.

"But if he's her older brother then why did he come to attack us the way he did?" Yuri questioned with a sign of frustration in his throat.

"Captain Kuchiki isn't one to put family before policy to put it mildly" Urahara stated to the already irritated Yuri.

"He's a noble to, that just gets me more frustrated that he's like the rest.." Yuri sighed angrily.

"So is Rukia, but you got along just fine with her." Urahara pointed out to him, hoping to give him some leeway.

"I hate nobles like that Byakuya guy, but Rukia is different from him." Yuri clarified. "She i could see as a true noble accourding to teh definition."

"I see," There was a slight pause before Urahara spoke again. "So what will you do now Mr. Yuri Lowell?" He said waving his fan in front of his face.

"I need to go and rescue her, that's the general idea right now."

"And just how do you plan on doing that without any spiritual power?" Urahara pointed out. Yuri knew he didn't have any power left after his previous fight. But he knew that he had to go and try to get her back. "I could say that Judith here could do a better job then you at this point."

"Urahara!" Judith shouted with anger at Urahara's last comment. "It's hard enough on Yuri as it is, don't go-"

"It's alright Judy, he's right." Yuri admitted. Judith turned to face him again, only concerned by his words. "I don't know what i can do, but i can't just sit here after seeing her get taken away because of me. If you have any ideas then by all means run them by me." Yuri inquired to them both. There was just silence for a few moments. Judith couldn't find the words to express her opinion about this and Urahara was still in shock that Yuri made that declaration. At that moment he made a chuckle, then dropped it and gave a stern look.

"Actually I do know of a way to help bring back your spiritual power, but before that I have to ask. Are you certain that this is the path you wish to choose? By choosing this path I can make you a Soul Reaper again using your own latent Spiritual Power, but after that there would be no going back. Or you can face heel turn and go on with your life, forget about all of us and life as you want. So again I ask. Are you certain that this is the path you choose?" Urahara began to be serious at this point with him, trying to make sure that Yuri got the point of what it is that was going to happen with him.

"I can't live with myself if i turn my back and run when i can help someone in need. I'll become a Soul Reaper, and take all the good and bad that come with it." Yuri declared to himself. Urahara stamped his cane on the ground and smiled with a shadow casting over his eyes by his hat.

"I see, then follow me," He said to Yuri. Urahara turns to Judith. "You can come to if you'd like to spectate and provide support."

"Sure," Judith gets up from the bed sluggishly. "Are you sure about this though Yuri?"

"I'm sure, just don't push yourself. You're in worst condition then i am." Yuri told her with a unsettled look on his face. He walked up to her and lends her a hand, which she accepts and grabs hold. However as they were walking she was not well enough to walk much so she was limping instead. So to make the trip faster, Yuri picked her up and placed her on his back. Even though he himself is hurt he can still manage to carry some load.

Urahara tapped his cane on the wall of the room and it dissipated revealing a flight of stairs that lead downward. "Once you go in there is no turning back." Yuri nodded. After a going down, very far down, they came out to see a large mountainous region that extended for miles around. "Woweee, who would've guessed there was such a huge space underneath my shop" Urahara said out loud in a playful manner.

"Oh please, don't give me that, you obviously built this place yourself." Yuri huffed at Urahara's remark.

"Where are we?" Judith asked.

"I built this place a while back as a sort of training room for the kids. I also use this place as a sort of testing field for whatever I cook up." Urahara explained. Yuri shifted uneasily knowing that when he said _cook up_, he meant make something that would be quite hazerdous and crazy. "Anyway, shall we begin?" Urahara chuckled as he walked over to Yuri and proceeded to stamp him in the head with his cane, causing his soul to tumble out of his body. The body itself fell over along with Judith on the floor with a thud. She got up and rubbed the back of her head where she landed and gave Kisuke a glare. "Hehe, whoops." Urahara shrugged. They both looked over to where Yuri landed; he had a chain latched to his chest that connected to his body. "Just to clarify that is your chain of fate. Since you are no longer a Soul Reaper you don't have the freedom of freely exiting your body." He stops to observe Yuri's reaction. He finds Yuri is having a hard to keep balance and finds trouble breathing.

"What's going on? It was never this hard to breath after exiting my body before!" Yuri wheezed and continues to pant.

"This is the first time you've been outside your body without being in the form of a Shinigami. Because of your lack of spiritual power it's only natural that, in the form of a soul, that you would have trouble stabilizing yourself. If you want to get back on the road to becoming a Shinigami you must first restore your spiritual power." Urahara continued to explain the details as Yuri attempts to get used to this new development.

"Alright then," Yuri rises slowly finding the strength to move. "What's the first order of business?"

"I like how you're so direct." Urahara teased. "OH URURU!" He called out.

The pigtailed purpled haired girl appeared in front of the group and walked over to Kisuke. "Hello." She said with a curtsy tone.

"Lesson 1 is a match with her." Urahara said to Yuri while pointing at her.

"Wait, you want me to fight a little girl? I know I'm weak right now but this is a bit much don't you think?" Yuri asked Urahara, only for him to cast a grin on his face.

"I don't think so at all," There was a stagnant pause before he spoke once more with a grin and a shadow over his eyes. "Now then," He hands both of them a Styrofoam helmet, elbow pads and boxing gloves. "These are for your own protection. The rules are simple fight until one of you is unable to fight back. So Yuri, be sure to try and knock her out before she knocks out you ok?"

"Please be careful, I don't want to kill you by accident." Ururu said to the raven haired man. At that split second of a moment she rushes to Yuri at breakneck speeds and delivers a powerful punch forward.

"Whoa!" Yuri exclaims in shock and dodges. The large stalagmite behind Yuri that he was leaning against was completely disintegrated when her fist made contact.

"He's got good reflexes, even after his tiredness and previous injuries." Urahara said to Judith as he observed the fight.

"What with this kid?" Yuri said to himself as he continues to dodge blows left and right, knowing that one could easily decimate him.

"What's going on? How was that girl able to do something like that?" Judith questioned Urahara as the fight wore on. But Urahara didn't react; he was too fixated on the fight in front of him, noticing that Yuri truly is remarkable in his capabilities even after his defeat.

Yuri leaped up and barrel rolled past her to evade another barrage of punches. When he got behind her he made his way to deliver a right hook to her side. But she dodged knowing the attack was coming and back-flipped over Yuri and she kicked him in the back of his head, sending him hurling towards a rock formation. However Yuri got his balance back and stopped himself before colliding. He pivoted his right foot to turn around face Ururu who still had her usual gloomy look on her face and she rushed forward.

"Damn it, I have to adapt myself better to this. One more time!" Yuri called out. Urahara stamped his cane on the ground to signal Ururu to back down.

"All I said was to knock her out before she knocks you out; I never said you had to knock her out to clear the lesson no did I?" Urahara puts a hand on Ururu's head and pets her gently. "Not to mention, Ururu's fighting skills are good enough to take on even some extremely well honed Shinigami. Now answer me this do you still have trouble breathing and moving around?" Yuri's eyes widen a bit at the realization that he doesn't have as much trouble as before when he first exited his body. He brushed off the dust on his clothes and got back on his feet. "I'd say this call for a celebration."

"A celebration?" Yuri said with a questioning tone. "We don't have time for this now! We need to keep going!" He exclaimed. At that same moment a large ax came slamming down by the force of the large Tessai who has been watching in the shadows for quite a while. Yuri looked down, to see that his soul chain has been severed from his body. Yuri gasps in shock and then looks up to Urahara sharply with the expression still on his face.

"We celebrate, by going straight into Lesson 2."

* * *

**A/N Oh snaps! Then again you should have seen that coming. Anyway Yuri's training begins and now they are going all the way to give him his powers again. What will become of him now? Find out in the next chapter. Review, subscribe, fav, or subscribe to the Tales of Vesperia community that was created recently, whatever you feel is necessary.**


	15. Ye Who Bare's His Fangs

**A/N Sorry for teh delay, i got sick recently and i slowed down quite a bit. Even my college professors are mad at me -.-U...Ok so we are in Yuri's training time and he just finished with his fight with Ururu. You should know what come's next readers XD. Also there is something important at the end of the A/N, read it to understand.**

* * *

**Third Person View**

Yuri was in a downstairs inside Kisuke's vast training room that looked like a savanna of mountains. Just recently he finished a fight with Ururu and lost, but the objective was complete by getting himself used to being in soul form. But after he fight was done, Kisuke gave Tessai the word and with an Ax, smashed his soul-chain that connected him to his body. Yuri, now apprehensive of what was done, stepped back a few inches in shock and fear. Kisuke lifted his finger and pointed to Yuri, "Sho." With a blue light shining from his fingertip, Yuri could feel himself getting pushed back forcibly off his feet. He didn't understand what was going on, but while his thoughts were lost, he found himself floating above a large hole in the ground. Seconds later, Yuri fell into the pit and landed on his back with a thud. He flipped himself over, coughing violently from the impact.

It was then that Tessai jumped down with him and clapped his hands. With a strong roar, Tessai had then banded his arms together and sealed them by wrapping them in red fabric and steel pegs that stab themselves into Yuri's arms. "Done."

"Damn it, what are you guys trying to do!" Yuri shouted in anger after getting thrown around like a rag doll into a pit. "Are you trying to kill me!"

"Not in the least." Kisuke said appearing at the top of the hole. "Lesson 2, you need to get yourself out of this hole one way or another without your arms." Kisuke explained. "It will take seventy-two hours for the encroachment to be fully complete and then-"

"I will become a hollow. Rukia didn't keep me in the dark about how things work with souls you know, she told me about the soul chain and how it works." Yuri interrupted. "Just you wait; when I get out of this hole I am going to knock some sense into that skull of yours."

"Oh, is that so?" Kisuke teased. Before Yuri could comment back, the end of his chain began to form mouths and eat away at the rest of it. Yuri screamed in agonizing pain as his chain slowly withers away, and then stops after only eating a short amount. "Then you better get moving. Seventy-one hours and forty-five minutes remain." He said with an upbeat tone and walked away.

Leaving Yuri behind in the hole, Urahara walks up to Judith who heard Yuri's screams and asks, "Is Yuri alright? Or are you doing something mischievous again?"

"Now now Judith, there is no need for that kind of talk is there? I never said this training is going to be pleasant did i?" Kisuke said to the Krityan.

"No, you didn't. But still you could at least give him a heads up before sending him into-"

"Dropping topic there is another matter that needs to be attended to." Kisuke interjected with a serious notation. "The rest of the group is upstairs, ignorant of what has been going on. You and I will go back while Yuri is here for the time being and brief them on the situation right now." Judith said nothing back and just continued to listen. "News like this won't be very pretty to most of the group I believe, but I told Noba ahead of time to let Flynn in on the details so he should come running eventually. As for Rita, and Karol, they will be rather difficult to deal with."

"I know Rita wouldn't care much about Rukia." Judith said somberly. "But I know Karol would take offense to the fact that he was left out of the loop."

"For his well-being of course, now let's stop gawking and get going before Flynn appears and spoils the mood." Kisuke said now back in his upbeat tone. Judith nods once and rises up from the ground, feeling rejuvenated after her rest, but still sluggish. Kisuke moved ahead and climbed the staircase first ahead of Judith who is moving slightly slower, mostly because she isn't in her usual clothing so she feels weird compared to before. When they reached the top the wall shut behind them, sealing away any evidence that it was there in the first place. They exited the room, passed the store stands of candy and such, and outside to the front. There, no one was around, just the forest in front of them along with some bushes. The air was calm along with the morning winds that blew the tree's leaves. Urahara was aware that they went out into training for the time being with Yoruichi. Yoruichi does know as well but she was told to stay quiet until Urahara rendezvouses with her and the others.

Before they moved on, Judith tapped on Kisuke's shoulder and grabbed his attention. "I'm sorry but you think I could get my old clothes back now. It would be odd for me to face everyone if I'm dressed like this."

"Ah yes, go right ahead. Ururu was the one that changed you into what you're wearing now; I do believe she patched up your old clothing if I'm correct."

"Thank you, then I'll be right back." Judith says to him as she runs back into the house.

Kisuke sighs and says. "Figures she would want them back. Glad I had Ururu fix them up." He then sat down on the porch to wait for the Krityan to finish with her wardrobe change while waving his fan in front of him. He looked up to the sky and saw that the clouds looked eerie for the time of the day. "Strange." He then gets back up and looks around the area, feeling that something was amiss. He was right, and he swished his cane blade into the bush on his right, killing a sneaking hollow that was there hiding. "These guys are getting persistent. I guess without Tessai to clear these guys out they would take the chance." Urahara said to himself while tipping his hat down and smirked, "Sadly, they mess with the wrong store owner." Three more hollows jumped from the shadows behind him, Kisuke shun-poed in front of each and sliced them in pieces with little effort. More came from the side and he shun-pos again, this time jamming his sword into each of their heads, killing them instantly. No more hollows were in the area and he sheaths his word back into his cane. Thankfully for him, no one noticed his fight.

Judith came out moments after and saw Kisuke standing upright with his cane on both hands. "Something wrong?" Judith asked the dubious store owner.

"Nah, just getting a little exercise that's all." Kisuke said to Judith, who has dressed back into her normal clothing. "You ready?" Judith nods, and they both make their way into the forest towards Yoruichi's location.

* * *

**Yuri's Location**

Yuri, who is exhausted from the constant enroachments for the past hour, has been trying to get out of the hole, has had to deal with Ururu and Jinta teasing him from above. Yuri has the strength as of right now to get back at him by picking up a rock with his foot, juggle it like a hacky sack, and launched it directly into Jinta's face. Jinta fell back as Ururu giggled at his unfortunate hit. Jinta rises back up and sees Yuri standing straight up, then runs forward again towards the wall and runs up it for a bit. Then with the last momentum of his step, Yuri spun around so his back was facing the wall and slammed himself down on the wall with his fingers forcibly drilling themselves in. Even with his arms bound he could still manage to squirm his fingers a bit which gave him a clamp. However, with bad timing, the enrouchment began again and he writhed in pain while losing his grip and fell to the ground once more.

"Damn it, this isn't working!" Yuri shouted at himself with pain crawling out with his tone. Even during the enrouchment process he still manages to get up and look up. The walls are hard to climb due to the fact that they are steep and sleek, not much to grab on. "I need a new approach."

* * *

**Judith's Location**

Kisuke and Judith had arrived at the training grounds, showing that Rita has been using high level Kido on Karol for the past hour. Karol has been dodging all her relentless attacks back and forth while making his own counters with his hammer. Both have been neck and neck about this for the past few days and both have been developing nicely. Kisuke came closer to Yoruichi along with Judith and sits next to her while they watch the fight continue on.

"Nice for you to join us Kisuke." Yoruichi said plainly.

"Eh, I think we should let them know."

"Are you sure that's a good decision, Yuri may want to tell him himself." Yoruichi said to Kisuke with a look of concern on her furry face.

"Even if he had anything wrong with it it's not like he could do much arguing on the situation from within a pit in an area that's already subterranean to begin with." Kisuke joked, but he reverted his tone back to being serious. "Of course that's assuming he makes it at all."

"Yes, you have a point." Yoruichi submitted. She looks over to the direction of Rita and Karol and shouted, "You two, come here!" They did as

"It's about Yuri" Kisuke said plainly to then getting straight to the point.

"What, did he get himself into trouble again?" Rita questioned. "It's not news to me; he's always been like that."

"It's a little more…complicated than that." Kisuke said to Rita's comment.

"What do you mean?" Karol questioned.

"How should I put this? Yuri isn't in the best of shapes right now." Kisuke said to Karol with a little more enthusiasm then before;

"Yuri and i encountered some people from Soul Society to take Rukia away. I disapproved because they convicted her so I fought back. I was outmatched and beaten, although i painfully admit it, i was outclassed severely." Judith took over the conversation. It was then that Karol got frantic.

"W-Wait a sec? You LOST!" Karol questioned. It wasn't much of a morale booster for Judith though. Karol realized this though and bowed his head. "Oh, sorry"

"Yuri, from what I could tell from the lingering reiatsu managed to put up a fight, but unfortunately for him one of the individuals was of captain class and took Yuri down quite easily, got him right in the back twice, making Yuri powerless in terms of spiritual power." Kisuke explained to the group while also putting his fan away because it was distracting.

"So how is the sap doing then?" Rita questioned, not caring about the details on the other matter.

"Well like I said before he lost all of his spiritual power so he's rather useless in the fight against Hollows you know. A real morale downer on his part right now, however he is training to get his powers back and to go rescue Rukia."

"Rescue her? I don't think so; they could have her for all i care." Rita sneered while placing her hands on her hips.

"You have a problem Miss Mordio?" Kisuke asked, rather irritated to Rita's statement.

"Simple, i don't like Rukia, i hated how she just appeared and caused all this to happen. I'm agitated that i got dragged into this, not to mention we lost two very good friends of ours." Rukia said to the group with annoyance of the subject.

"That's not exactly Rukia's fault it's Zagi's!"" Karol defended

"Gimme a break, if Rukia hadn't met Yuri she'd still be at full strength so she could've taken out Zagi and this never would've happened" Rita said, although the group did not like her words or tone on the subject, they had let her be for the moment.

"If you don't want to go that's fine, you can stay here and help take care of the hollows that pop up when Yuri goes to rescue her." Kisuke suggested with a firm attitude in his voice saying that this would be a final statement that she should not respond to.

"I-I'm going to. As leader of Brave Vesperia, I can't let him go alone." Karol declared to himself.

Judith: "I concur, I'm going with him, Rukia is a good friend." Judith stated. "And I don't like losing a fight and just blowing it off. I want to find that guy again and really give it back to him."

"So what's this training Yuri's doing, anything we can do to help?" Karol asked

"Sorry but no. This is something Yuri has to do himself. Although I will say this, if he doesn't complete this training" More serious than ever, he finalizes saying, "He will become a hollow, and I will have to kill him if it comes to that." Everyone's reaction was the same, shock, horror, and most of all, fear. None of them could fathom what his last words brought upon them. Even Judith was taken into shock at his answer.

"What? Are you serious?" Karol exclaimed.

Rita turns away and says, "What are you getting so worked up for, if it's Yuri I'm sure he'll be fine." Although she showed confidence in her words, inside she was just as afraid for him as well.

"Rita!" Karol yelled, unbelieving to her words.

"Actually I agree with her," Judith cut in. "Yuri will succeed, I could see it in his eyes when he said he wanted to become a Soul Reaper again, he wouldn't take defeat for an answer."

"Aren't you guys the least bit worried about him?" Karol questioned.

"Of course I'm worried about him, but I just have faith in him that's all. Like I said he isn't the person to accept defeat so easily, if at all." Judith remarked to the apprehensive boy. Although it didn't faze him much, even though they could have faith in him, there are still many things they don't understand that could make them say otherwise. Karol, who knew that he was rather ignorant to the situation compared to the others, didn't feel any better about Yuri's scenario.

"I'm not worried about him in the least! He can go risk his life and save that Rukia person all on his own. I'm not getting involved!" Rita shouted in announced

"Well that's entirely your decision. Just like I said." Kisuke said, rather disappointed to her statement.

"But Rita, Rukia's our friend." Karol whined.

"Excuse me, maybe she might be to you and Judith, but I don't ever recall declaring her my friend." Rita shot back a little more upset then before. "You guys can do whatever; I'm going back to training. Like Urahara said someone's got to get rid of those masked freaks while you guys are all off playing hero." Rita shot back and left the area back into the forests. The rest said nothing else after that; they decided to disband for now to collect their thoughts. In the end, it was only Yoruichi and Karol by themselves.

"I know you are troubled," Yoruichi said to the exhilarated boy. "Speak your thoughts."

"Of course I would say it's about Yuri, he's always getting himself into these things and has always gotten himself into trouble. Sure he has pulled through every time back then, but now I'm really worried that-"

"He becomes a hollow." Yoruichi cut in, knowing what Karol was thinking. "At least you act like his boss who knows the hardships he's been through, which is why you got to support him." Yoruichi commented, although it was more of praise. "With that said you better train hard when he gets out of there and out to Soul Society."

"Wait, then you mean-"

"Although the chances are rather low and the likely hood is grim, I believe he will pull through in the end. I have seen many fighters come and go, but Yuri is one exception to all of them." Yoruichi admitted to the boy, which made him feel a bit better. Without saying another word, Karol reaches into his bag and pulls out his hammer, ready to do more training. "I see you're fired up now, I can tell it in your eyes. Now come, much is needed to be done."

* * *

**Yuri's location, (Two and a half days later…)**

"Man, how long have I been down here for?" Yuri questioned himself while lying on the floor. He was face down, with his raven colored hair hiding his face as he remained motionless and tired. He looked at his chain; saw that it still had a nice length to it, which calmed him down a bit. Yuri shifted a bit until he managed to stand on his knees and rise on his feet again. Sadly, Yuri plummeted down again, his stamina that gave him his edge has drifted away and doing any kind of action is practically impossible right now. Jinta then came around near the hole and leapt down with a plateful of food. Yuri, feeling taunted, says to him, "What do you think you're doing?"

This only makes Jinta smirk and become even more deviant then before. "I just thought I would bring some food, in case you were hungry." Jinta says out loud with a demeaning tone.

Yuri looks away. "Get out of here kid, I will eat later once I get out of this hole, and your are distracting me." Yuri then looks back at Jinta, but he notices that whatever malicious intention Jinta had earlier, it disappeared when his grin turned to a sharp frown. "What now?"

"Listen to me Yuri, when you get hungry it means you will turn into a hollow." Jinta said to Yuri.

"Well I'm not hungry, and if you haven't noticed I still have a lot of my chain left." Yuri shot back, but this only caused Jinta to sigh.

"Listen again Yuri Lowell, your last enroachment, will be the worst of them all." With that said, Jinta then scurried up the hole and back to the surface to Ururu's side. Yuri shifted uneasily to his comment to wonder what he meant by it being his worst. Moments later after Jinta left, his chain began its enroachment again, this time to Yuri's surprise, the whole chain had been covered with mouths. The pain became excruciating bad once the chain began to eat away at itself, with Yuri screaming in protest. Urahara then came around and observed from the top of the cliff to see Yuri become the way he is now. Yuri sat completely up while yelling out for the chain's to stop eating away at what was left of his chain. It was all in vain as the chain fully devoured itself, leaving the hole of a hollow behind.

Yuri shrieks in pain with a gurgling noise while the white goo spews from his mouth and eyes as it coils around his face. Ururu was about to jump in, but Kisuke stopped her from by saying. "Leave him be, just a little longer." Ururu submitted and continued to watch Yuri hollowfy slowly.

* * *

**Unknown Location…**

Yuri shoots up from where he was laying down, which was odd for him since he was just hollowfying just a minute ago. He looked around him to see his surroundings. He was actually drenched because he was at the side a deep pool of water. Surrounding that pool were many tall trees that extend off high to the sky so you can't see above the tree's branches when you stand directly underneath them. The only way to see the sky was in the location of the water, where it shows the night sky and a crescent moon directly vertical of the pool. Something caught Yuri's eyes as he looks to the center of the pool, a small sandbar, no bigger than 10 feet in diameter and the pool itself was about 100 feet in radius. If you looked from above the pool you could see the reflection of the moon on the water with the sandbar in the hollow portion of the moon.

Yuri rose up slightly to see it, and curiosity inquired him to jump in the pool and swim over to the sand bar, but when he jumped in, he was actually standing on the water's surface. Ripples were made on the water's surface where his foot, Yuri only looked down with a confused expression, but ignored it and looked forward. The white object suddenly turned around, revealing itself to be a wolf with the same colored fur like the moon. When it turned, it revealed that it had several tails which gave it a fluffy look that when they all come together they could conceal her appearance when seen from behind. Its eyes were gleaming with the same color of its fur, and it had a little more fluff around its color bone like it had a mane. To Yuri, although it was a creature, he thought it looked like a magnificent symbol of sorts. The wolf stood on all four of its legs and proceeded to walk towards Yuri with its tails continuing its constant flow. To Yuri's surprise, it also could walk on the water's surface. Both then came closer to one another and then the wolf stopped when it was a mere 3 feet from Yuri.

It sat upright on the water's surface and looked directly towards Yuri's eyes. They both stared at each other, entranced at their meeting, but it was the wolf that broke the silence. "Greetings Yuri Lowell. It's a blessing to finally communicate with you." The wolf said with a gentle, solemn, and shocking to Yuri, feminine.

"You're a girl?" Yuri questioned.

Yuri's question made the wolf smile and giggle. "Indeed I am. How long will it have been since I wanted you to hear my voice Yuri?" She rose from the ground and walked up to him and encircled him continuously. "I've been trying to speak to you for such a long time, but my voice never reached you. Until now that is."

"What do you mean?" Yuri questioned further.

"Like I said, I've been trying to talk to you for a long time. Or have you never known that you have always had your own shinigami powers?" The wolf spoke again, this time more alluringly. But the statement only brought Yuri to more confusion. "You had your own powers before Rukia gave you hers. When Byakuya came and destroyed your powers, it was actually hers. Yours still remains, here, in your inner world."

"My…inner world?"

"The world that represents your soul Yuri Lowell, where I reside within you." The wolf clarified for him. "Now is not the time for chatter however. Things are looking grim for you at the moment." Yuri looked around to see what her mean, and then looked up to see that the trees are dissolving with boxes falling down into the water. "One of these boxes contain your shinigami powers. If you wish to retrieve them, you must find them. If you don't before the world here vanishes, you will become a hollow." Before Yuri could reply back with another question, he fell into the water and began to sink slowly. He looks around seeing that the boxes were sinking with him. Although he was sinking in the water, he wasn't drowning at all. But that was the least of his worries.

_Damn it, how am i supposed to find them at this rate?_ Yuri cursed in his head as he continued to think and look around. _Wait. That's it!_ Yuri exclaimed in his head once more as he concentrated his own spiritual energy that he had left and then ribbons started to shoot out everywhere from the boxes around him. _Rukia taught me that to track another shinigami; I would have to find their spirit ribbons, which were red in color. _Yuri looked around the many ribbons around him, all of which were white. However after much searching, he finally found the red ribbon he has been looking for. With that known, he reached out and grabbed it. With a single tug the box opened, revealing a hilt of a sword that had a silver hilt along with a moon designed guard.

"Quickly!" The wolf called out. "Pull me out!"

* * *

**Tessai's Location**

_Damn it!_ Tessai shouted in his head as Yuri continued to hollowfy. Somehow, Yuri was breaking the binds that held his arms together. "It's no good Kisuke; I need to end this now!" With that said Tessai started to make another hand sign. "Bakudo 99, BANKIN!" Bandages suddenly appeared from where Tessai was sitting and then they began to completely wrap Yuri around. "Second incantation! BOLTS!"

"Whoa wait a second Tessai if you keep this up you're going to kill him!" Jinta shouted from the top.

"It's no good, He needs to be-"

Tessai was caught off guard when Yuri broke out of the seal completely and shot himself into the air in a flash of a bright yellow light. Ururu, Jinta, and Kisuke had to duck before the shockwave hit them otherwise they would be blown away. The three of the turned around to see that the light crashed in front of them, it cleared to reveal Yuri's figure. They drew smiles at first but it turned to frowns when Yuri's face was revealed to have a mask on. At that point, they didn't know whether or not Yuri was a shinigami or hollow even though he was wearing a shihakusho. Yuri's Zanpakuto was held in his left hand as usual though, and he lifted it up to unsheathe it in his usual manner. With that done, didn't smash his mask, rather he just grabbed it and threw it off, revealing his face.

"Phew, that thing is stuffy. Don't want to where that again." Yuri joked with a large grin on his face.

"No way." Jinta remarked as he looked closely at Yuri who was rather shocked to see Yuri the way he is.

"Alright congratulation-" Kisuke said but was hit in the face with a large stone the size of his face thrown by Yuri. Kisuke fell back on the floor and rubbed his face softly to ease the pain. "Ow, that hurt."

"Yeah well you deserved that much considering what you just did." Yuri shot back with a grin. "Now do you have any more lessons you want to throw at me or am I done here?" Yuri said with confidence in his ability now that his own powers had manifested. Kisuke got up, rubbing his face still, but not as much anymore.

He smirks at Yuri and then lifts his cane off the ground. "Good, that's the attitude you're going to need," He then pulls out his sword from its sheath that was the cane and pointed it at Yuri. "For lesson three, you must simply knock off my hat."

"If that's all there is to it then I don't have to hurt you too bad." Yuri snuffed with confidence in his tone again, fully ready for the next lesson. Yuri then removes the sword form the hilt his usual way and holds it in the same manner as always. "Let's get started!"

Yuri makes the first lunge forward and swishes across the left side of Kisuke's body. Kisuke dodges left and thrusts his sword forward towards Yuri's shoulder, but he back steps to get out of range of his attack and runs to the right side where he has a clear shot. Yuri sweeps his blade at Kisuke's legs and forced him to jump, which gave Yuri the chance to spin himself and back hand Kisuke in the chest which caught him completely off guard. Kisuke flew back a few feet and when he landed his feet dragged a few more feet in a cloud of smoke to try and regain his balance. Yuri took the chance and kept rushing him with multiple sword swings; however Kisuke was no longer messing around and parried all of Yuri's on coming attacks without trouble.

"Not bad." Kisuke commented to Yuri's skill in combat with a smirk. "However," With a single stroke to Yuri's blade directly, Kisuke managed to crack Yuri's blade which made Yuri become exceedingly high conscious and jumped back in wonderment of what happened to his Zanpakuto. "You still have to learn about the difference of spiritual power in battle." Kisuke, without thinking twice, unleashed a great amount of spiritual power from his body. "Your sword may be back, but it lacks spiritual power. You're neglecting it." Kisuke then brought his blade forward and said, "Awaken, Benihime." His blade transformed into its shikai, a sleek medium-sized sword. It has a crimson tassel that dangles on the end of the hilt, which has a gentle decorative bend. Instead of a cross guard, there is a U-shaped decoration covers the first three or four inches of blade, with a flower petal design right as it meets the string-cross guard. It also has a red decorative string wrapped thrice around the hilt, with a three-loop bow on one side and a folded paper decoration on the other.

"So that's your release then? Good, I was waiting for you to do that." Yuri said to Kisuke, who raised an eyebrow in question. Yuri brought his sword in front of him vertically with the blade facing the ground. _I hear your voice, I won't forget it._ "Prey beneath the predator's gaze." Yuri said with a calm, yet stern voice. Spiritual power is leaked everywhere along with his pressure that's exerting that could be felt everywhere. With a battle cry Yuri called out, "Hauringu Tsuki!" (Howling Moon) The blade shined a bright silver glow and then began to morph into a longer blade, double edged with engravings on its blade, and a small but long pike sticking out the other end of the hilt. Another feature is on his opposite hand where it wore a silver and grey gauntlet that extended up to his elbow with two spikes protruding out the portion where the knuckles would be.

Urahara could only whistle at this sight, but inside, he was deeply impressed with Yuri's development. "Now let's see what that can do?" Kisuke stood ready to face off against Yuri once more, this time cautious to Yuri's unknown power.

"No offense, but please try to dodge, I don't know what this thing can do." Yuri warned. Spiritual power flowed into his blade again and then the light came again to encase the blade fully. Kisuke was surprised on the amount of energy being unleashed by him after he just recently acquired his release state. With a single swish, Yuri launched a blade of pure energy at Kisuke. With the amount of energy that surged and how fast it was moving, he knew that he would have to block since there was no time to dodge. Kisuke brought his blade in front of him, and a shield that looked like a crimson colored hexagon appeared in front of him. The blast hit him dead on, it knocked off the hat, but it did more than that, the shield itself shattered to pieces. Urahara was amazed; even though he downgraded the power of his shield he never thought that Yuri would be able to destroy it. Although the attack dissipated when it collided with the shield, the shockwave did knock off the hat. To Kisuke's surprise right after, Yuri moved fast enough to have his blade pointing at his throat merely centimeters away. "Does that count?" Yuri said while jumping back to give Kisuke some space.

Kisuke then placed his blade down and sheathed it. "Yes, I believe it does." Kisuke said to Yuri as he placed his partly cut hat back on his head, dead surprised that Yuri actually got his blade to his own throat. "I must say, I didn't think you could get past my shield like that. That is truly an accomplishment, you passed lesson three."

* * *

**A/N Yep, That's Yuri's Shikai. I know you were all excited about this so I posted everything in one chapter even though my original plan was two separate chapters. Anyway now with the whole group decided on going to Soul Society and training harder than before, what will become of their adventure? Stay tuned and find out.**

**Another side note: I've been having a good laugh with all the feedback through emails and reviews on how I killed Estelle for no good reason and that I had a "Die for my ship" moment for Yuri X Judith. I'll say plainly that I had no intention for a pairing in a first place. However since things went this far with my readers I have an idea. A competition, everyone that wishes for some kind of pairing with Yuri of any kind (as long as it's not Yaoi) will submit feedback on who it is they want and their reason why as long as it does not go along the lines of "They belong together" or "It makes sense". Whichever pairing is the most voted will be the one to be used, but everyone will remain ignorant to the results to keep things fair and for the sake of not revealing spoilers. You can send feedback through my email on my profile or by simply reviewing, have fun and don't kill each other please, the last thing I want to do is clean people up with a mop -.-U**


	16. Yuri's Gameplan

**A/N Ok, I'm back with a new chapter for you all. I've received a lot of feed-back as of late from my last chapter concerning the pairings and I must say…it was hard to re-organize. Anyway I'll stop talking and get you on your way to reading.**

* * *

**Third Person View**

It was the day after Kisuke's final parts of training with Yuri into getting his Shinigami powers. At this day, it was a time for resting for him, but Yuri did not let anyone know of his development. For all they know, he could be a hollow already, but he wants to keep things quiet until he feels ready to confront them himself before jumping in feet first into hell with Rita of all people who isn't too happy with the developments. Kisuke and Yuri decided together that they have to train together to get Yuri used to fighting on a higher standard than before since he is going to go head on against Soul Society. Because of this, Flynn and Repede are receiving training with Yoruichi while Kisuke is occupied. Thankfully for Yuri, Flynn was fully debriefed on what has been happening and had to pull some strings in order to take a "vacation" from the knights. Sodia is up and running again, with Hisca and Chastel having her back as support for the time being. Noba stayed behind though, someone needs to be stay put to deal with the hollows that are still on the loose.

Yuri is lying down on top of a rock formation that sticks out twenty feet from the ground while in his own body; Repede is by his side too lying on his belly. They were sitting there for a good hour or so trying to think of their next more besides telling everyone about his new shinigami powers. Kisuke is going to train him in a couple hours from now, once that happens it would be a week before he could talk with everyone again because it will be non-stop unlike what the others have been doing. Yuri sat up and stretched out his arms to wave out the tiredness. "Now or never I guess." Yuri said to himself as he leaped off the boulder, Repede following from behind. They then proceeded to the stairs, continued to the upper level, and closed the doorway behind them. No one has noticed their exit just yet, besides one snooping shopkeeper.

"Hey Yuri what's up?" Kisuke said out loud in a cheery tone as he pops out from the shadows.

"Hey old man, you mind keeping it down." Yuri replied while placing his index finger near his mouth. "No one knows yet right? Or did you go behind my back again?"

"Nah I kept quiet on you becoming a Shinigami again; I told them that you did get a beating from before along with Judith." Kisuke assured the raven haired swordsman. "Besides that, Tessai is out hunting for dinner tonight."

"Alright then. I will get going then to find everyone." Yuri told Kisuke. With a nod from both of them; Yuri left the room with Repede and made his way down the hall. During his walk, he came across the room where Karol was sleeping in, and Karol was sleeping on the futon inside. Yuri, wanting to take the opportunity, decided on entering the room quietly so he didn't wake him up to give him a bit of a jolt. He remembers the day when they first met and they helped each other revive the tree, along with how many times Yuri pranked on Karol. Yuri sat down, leaned over to Karol's ear, and growled the same way the 'Egg Bear' did when they hunted it.

This caused Karol to immediately wake up, grab his hammer from his bag that he was using as a pillow, and scream, "PREPARE TO DIE EGG BEAR!" With a battle cry, Karol reflexively slammed his hammer down on the ground in front of him; creating a crater in the wooden floor. Of course, when Karol realized what happened, he started to panic. "NO! I'M SO DEAD!" Karol exclaimed knowing that Kisuke would kill him for damaging his store. The next thing he heard though was the snickering of a familiar voice form behind. He turns slowly to see the raven haired swordsman with a grin on his face. Karol would normally be going on a tantrum on how mean Yuri was on what he did, but with the scenario that he was aware of with Yuri he was more in awe than anything.

"Hey Karol, nice to know you're prepared to fight at a moment's notice." Yuri commented to Karol's reaction; still keeping his grin on his face.

"Y-Yuri!" Karol shouted as he leaped up from the ground. "You're back! Are you ok? Do you feel odd? Did Kisuke do something wrong to you?" Karol is throwing a barrage of questions at Yuri so fast he had to quiet him down by karate chopping his head. "Ow, what was that for!"

"To get you to calm down, but also for the intention of smashing me to the ground with that hammer of yours." Yuri pointed towards the large dent on the floor where Karol smashed his hammer down on. "Kisuke is going to be mad at you now."

"Don't remind me." Karol said, not very pleased with his action. Mostly because Kisuke is going to put him to work for it so he can pay it off. "I don't want to know what he is going to make me do now."

"Well at least you know i'm alright and still ready to take anyone down who messes with me." Yuri said with confidence about himself. "Anyway, lets go find the others before so i can tell them as well before Kisuke gets to us first." Karol nods his head to Yuri's idea and walks with him

Yuri and Karol walked outside the room, only to be caught by Judith and Rita who was waiting patiently outside in the hall for them to come out. They caught on about Yuri with all the noise and commotion Karol made when Yuri was teasing him again. They were outside the store when they heard Karol too, which embarrassed him a bit. Judith had her arms crossed behind her and kept her poker face active, but Rita was tapping her foot with annoyance. Before Yuri could even explain his story, Rita had already sent a barrage of fireballs at him and knocked both Karol and himself back into the room with a thud.

"Ok, I'm satisfied now." Rita said out loud and turned around. "I'm going back to training, have fun." With that noted to Judith, Rita left the hallway back outside.

Judith then walked into the room to find it in shambles after Rita's outburst again. Yuri was face down on the ground with Karol on top of him facing up. Besides the scorch marks on their body and clothing, she found herself laughing. "It's good to know you are doing fine Yuri, but now it seems you could use some patching up again."

Yuri, not amused about getting pummeled by fireballs again, flung Karol off of him and stood up. "No thanks, I can walk it off." Yuri dusted himself off and Karol rose up finally, although Karol is a bit dazed by the blast. "You can walk it off too, it's not that serious." Yuri told Karol.

"If you say so." Karol said groggily while stuttering left and right, trying to regain balance. After a few uneasy steps, he managed to get himself back together. "Anyway, now that Yuri is up and running again, I guess that means that we are going to rescue Rukia?"

"Seems so, we just need to finish training and then we can storm their base." Judith answered according to Karol's question. Yuri however, shifted uneasily to Judith's statement. "Yuri?" Judith took notice at Yuri's reaction.

"Oh," Yuri reactively said. "It's nothing really. I'm just thinking on how Kisuke is going to train me is all, considering what I'm up against." Yuri took a few moments to look around the room and then said. "Now that I think about it, I'm more worried on what he will do to us after he sees this room." Yuri casted his usual grin on his face after his remark.

"Oh man, I'm still dead meat." Karol realized after looking around the room himself. He also took not on the scorch marks all over the floor and walls. "At least Rita is in the same boat as I am." Karol rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"No worries, I already know." A cheery voice said behind Karol which made him jump from where he was standing. Karol ran forward towards Yuri and hid behind him. "Oh, don't worry about it Karol. This will come out of Yuri's own pocket." Kisuke assured the frantic boy as he stood up from where he was squatting. "Now then, with everyone taking in quite well on Yuri's recovery. Let's go outside and help Tessai bring in his hunt since he is about to return shortly." With a nod by himself, Kisuke left the room with Karol following behind him. Yuri and Judith followed right after, walking side by side.

During their walk, Judith elbowed Yuri slightly to get his attention. "So how do you feel? Now that you got you shinigami powers back."

"Oh, these aren't my powers actually." Yuri responded back. Judith raised an eyebrow in question. "The powers I had before we're actually Rukia's transferred into me. I didn't get them back," Yuri stopped walking, Judith stopping a second after to turn and look at him, still in question to what he was saying. "I awakened my own, the shinigami powers that I always had, but never noticed. Funny huh?" Yuri chuckled at his own comment.

"So you mean these are your shinigami powers? And you had them all your life?" Judith questioned further.

"Not sure if I had them since I was born, but they have been inside me for quite some time. I just never realized it until now after getting my ass handed to me." Yuri answered while rubbing the back of his head.

Judith smiled a bit, showing her easiness that she has now that she can stop worrying. "Well that's good. Now we don't have to be so concerned about you anymore and we can go rescue Rukia."

"Yeah." Yuri simply said without much thought into it. "C'mon, we're falling behind. We have to catch up to them Judy." Judith nods and both begin walking down the hall again. When they exited outside threw the back door, they both were in big shock. Tessai, who has gone hunting, is dragging by the tusk the so called _Lord of the Plains_ whose stomach had been ripped apart from the inside out. Tessai himself is covered in blood, so Yuri's initial thoughts were something Judith would do. Rip herself out of the belly of the beast. Karol was standing in front of Yuri, completely in awe at what Tessai was dragging; Kisuke wasn't bothered by it though.

"Woweee, looks like it's going to be a feast tonight." Kisuke said cheerfully as always. Tessai continued to drag the immense beast to the back of the store before entering. "Hey Tessai, you need any help with that?"

"No thank you Kisuke! I'm just taking this guy to the chop shop now!" Tessai screamed from afar as he entered the side entrance of the store, leaving the dead beast outside, and then coming back out with a butcher's knife. "Although, I could use someone's help with getting the meat cut up." Yuri, Judith, and Kisuke ran back inside the house, locking the door behind them and leaving Karol outside alone.

"H-Hey! LET ME IN!" Karol screamed.

"Sorry Karol. You're going to have to pay off those damages in my room somehow, might as well do it now." Kisuke said from behind the door.

"Sorry Karol, be the boss of Brave Vesperia right now and get to it." Yuri Joked.

Karol grunted at Yuri's comment. Karol's expression turned to absolute fear when he felt Tessai place both his hands on Karol's shoulders with a thud. Karol slowly turned to see the giant man staring down on him, his eyes looking like 4 pronged stars staring down on him with expectations. "NOOOO! SOMEONE SAVE MEEEEE!"

* * *

**Flynn's Location**

Flynn is riding on his horse to Kisuke's shop as fast as possible by request of Kisuke himself. He stopped momentarily when he heard Karol's scream in the distance. He scratched the side of his face for a few moments, pondering what he could be doing now of all times. But he shrugs it off, believing that if he has the energy to scream so loudly then he should be okay. Flynn continues onward, making his way through the treacherous forest and eventually he gets to the shop where he was needed. Yuri, Judith and Kisuke is already sitting outside the front porch, talking about their next move's for the rest of the time they have until the week ends. Flynn jumps off his horse and approaches the three.

Yuri was the first to notice him and rises on his feet. The two close friends meet up at last and they exchanged handshakes as an initial greeting. "Glad to see you made it." Yuri released his grip of Flynn's hand and puts it to his side. "I was wondering if you got caught up with work."

"Believe it or not, I managed to get things organized for myself for the next two weeks. I now have the chance to give my full undivided attention to your cause." Flynn told his raven haired friend, who casted a smile on his face to Flynn's statement. "So you mind filling me in on what's happened so far."

"Well, I got my shinigami powers, we're all training to get stronger, and I'm hoping to sit with everyone to discuss our next battle plan." Yuri explained to the knight.

"Well for the record, Kisuke here already informed me about previous events in a letter he sent yesterday." Flynn told the group. "I still can't believe you're doing crazy stuff again. Can't you at least try to avoid getting caught in bad situations?"

"That's no fun." Yuri and Judith said in Unison.

Flynn face palms himself, knowing that the answer given should have been expected. "Figures." Flynn retracts his hand from his face. "Anyway, can I speak to you in private Yuri?"

"Uh…sure." Yuri accepted, slightly with question to Flynn's motive. Flynn walked away, Yuri following from behind inside the store. Judith and Kisuke respected their decision and gave them their privacy instead of eavesdropping. Yuri and Flynn entered the room where Karol did some damage along with Rita's burn marks. "Yeah, I think the damage is self-explanatory."

Flynn grunts with a grin, and then it changes to a serious look. Right now, Flynn means business. "Yuri, about Rukia's rescue," Yuri's attention was grabbed instantly and his expression became the same as Flynn's. "I can understand you want to rescue her, but is it wise?"

"What are you saying?" Yuri questioned, now with irritation to Flynn's question. "Are you saying I should drop it altogether?"

Flynn's eyes averted from his gaze for a moment so he can speak with more ease. "Yuri, with this we have more to lose then to gain, and even then we are more likely to lose THEN to gain." Flynn added his concern before continuing to his actual question, now facing Yuri directly. "Which is why I ask, do we really need for everyone to go?" Flynn finally said.

Yuri was taken back with that question in mind, because honestly, he was thinking the same thing. Yuri questioned himself on him taking the whole group with him into hostile territory. "So I'm not the only one huh? But if you're here then I guess you want to go?" Yuri said while leaning to the right.

"Yes, I owe much to Miss Rukia, so I can't exactly look the other way. Karol, Rita, Repede, and Judith however I don't feel should be a part of this." Flynn said, waving his left hand in the hand as a gesture to help improve his opinion.

Yuri put more thought into Flynn's remark and ponders on it. After a few moments, he finally spoke again. "I know Rita said she didn't want to go period, so we don't have to worry about her. Repede I can convince to stay here. Karol I'm not too sure of. But I know Judith is definitely going to go no matter what we say."

"So it's just going to be the three of us?" Flynn said to Yuri.

"Not exactly." A voice spoke out from around the room. It was then Yoruichi jumped in between them from above. "Sorry for intruding, but I can't help but turn my ear to your conversation since I got trapped in this room."

"A talking cat?" Yuri commented while kneeling down near Yoruichi. "I've seen weirder things sure, but still this is odd."

"Hmm, then I guess I'm not that interesting?" Yoruichi played on with Yuri's comment.

"Yoruichi, I can assume you heard our conversation?" Flynn broke into Yuri's fascination of a talking cat.

"Yes, I do understand where you're concerns lie. In all honestly I'm with you on your idea as much as Yuri is now. But also I must add that I myself will accompany you." Yourichi stated to the two of them, who are quite confused as to why she wishes to join with them. "It's simple really, i have knowledge of the Seretei. Therefore I'm an essential part of your operation; otherwise you'll be running in circles."

"Still, what can a cat do?" Yuri questioned. "Sure you can talk and train us, but not sure what will happen when you get into a fight."

"You don't have to worry about that." Yoruichi assured. "I can handle myself pretty well on my own. It's you guys I'm worried about." Yoruichi then leaped up and perched herself upon Yuri's shoulder. "With said and down, the next thing that should be done is confronting everyone else correct?"

"Then I'll speak with Rita and Repede on this matter." Flynn decided while nodding his head.

"Yeah, I'll go talk to Karol about this, and then Judy comes next." Yuri announced. The three of them made their decisions and left the room right after, both going separate ways. Yuri had no doubt that Repede and Judith would want to come along, but he was concerned about Karol and Rita. Yuri was thinking that Flynn would be shut down by Rita in an instant, Karol would be questioning whether or not he should go or not. Yuri couldn't blame him if he didn't though, there is a lot on everyone's plate now and he still has a guild to run, even if all the prime members are storming Soul Society. Yuri stopped id way in the hallway before entering the room to his right where Karol is giving a hand to Tessai.

"Something wrong?" Yoruichi asked.

"Not really, I just don't want to get caught by Tessai while he's in the chop shop." Yuri said while rubbing his stomach, feeling uneasy in his thoughts on what's the other side of the room. Yoruichi started to feel the same to, now that she is thinking about it more thoroughly. "Let's get back to them later."

"Agreed." Yoruichi approved and the slowly walked away quietly in hopes they don't get noticed. The uneasiness in their stomachs didn't settle though, and both felt sorry for Karol. They can only imagine what he is forced to do now. The treaded down the hallway towards Judith's room for now to speak with her instead while they wait for Karol to finish up. When they reached her door, Yoruichi leaped off Yuri's shoulder and went through the door first. Yuri followed directly after and saw Judith sitting near the window, staring out into the sky.

Judith felt their presence a moment after and turned her attention to them. "Hey guys, do you need something?" Judith rose from the ground and walked up to them

"Well I just finished talking to Flynn about some concerns, so now we made a finalized decision on what's going to happen." Yuri said to Judith. She crosses her arms in front of her, which is usually a sign to Yuri that she's paying close attention.

"I'll explain." Yoruichi stepped forward. "We believe, and when I see _we_ I mean Yuri, Flynn, and I, that we should only bring a certain amount of people to the rescue, meaning that not everyone here may go to Soul Society." Yoruichi explained to the Krityan. "Basically we just want the people who truly have a reason to go. I know you of all of us would want to go, but we are planning on excluding out others."

"You mean like Rita and Karol?" Judith said, knowing that they are the likely ones to stay behind.

"Pretty much, Repede is definitely going to come one way or another, Flynn and myself as well." Yuri stated. "You, Karol, and Rita are the only ones that have the choice of staying or going. Although I can easily say that you aren't going to stay put."

"No, and I'll take it as a complement that you know me well enough to believe that." Judith said with a grin, but then it dropped. "You really think this is right?"

"I can tell by Rita's attitude that she does not wish to participate in our mission. I say leave her here, it will only hinder us if we force her to come." Yoruichi expressed her concern to the two. "Yuri had the same thought ahead of me, which is why Flynn will try to talk to her instead and see if he could convince her otherwise."

"I'm not holding my breath though, if she doesn't want to come that s her choice." Yuri said to support Yoruichi's statement. "If she truly feels the way she does towards Rukia then I can't say otherwise."

"Alright, I see your point. Thanks for letting me know first." Judith said straight out, although Yuri knew that she was grateful inside so he casted a smile before exiting the room. Yoruichi stayed behind with Judith though. "IS something the matter Yoruichi?"

"No, I'm just concerned about how our decision will affect our objective when we do infiltrate. I know Yuri's hate for nobles are high so I don't know if things on the other side my drive him wild." Yoruichi leaped up and sat on the windowsill to look outside. It was towards the end of the day now; the sky was slightly cloudy with an orange tint. "I wonder if things are going to go as smoothly as we want them too on our way in."

"What's that you said?" Judith asked not catching on to what Yoruichi said.

"Never mind, just thinking out loud." Yoruichi answered and look her way. "Anyway, you should go get some rest before-"

"DINNER IS SERVERD!" Tessai's voice boomed throughout the building, feeling like an earthquake hit and sent Judith and Yoruichi hovering in midair from the shockwave of his voice. When they fell, Yoruichi landed on Judith's stomach.

"Well, seems we got to eat first." Judith said with a nervous smile.

* * *

**A/N Well, things are looking a bit hectic now aren't they? Anyway, I will be working a little slower than usual since I got midterms for college even though it's only been a month since class even started. Now I shall take my leave right now, goodnight people (I'm nocturnal, so technically it's good morning :P)**


	17. Storm The Gate

**A/N Well, the next installment for the series is out now. Sorry it took so long, I've been working on "Noble Flames" with **_**Draconichero19**_** for a while, but now I'm here for Crossing Moons. Not much else for me to say as of now concerning me. Read on.**

* * *

**Third Person View**

It was one week after the Yuri got his shinigami powers and now they were ready to go to Soul Society and take things by storm. Karol, Judith, Flynn, Repede, Yoruichi, and Yuri are all going on the mission to rescue Rukia. However Rita did not want anything to do with things in Soul Society, so she declined going with them. Everyone besides Rita was in Urahara's lower levels and they stood in front of a large gate to Soul Society that Urahara prepared for them. It was rather difficult for Yuri to talk to Karol about this, but he seemed dead set on coming so in the end Yuri gave in. Of course Judith and Flynn were going to come no matter what at this point, and Repede just flat out refused to stay. And as for Rita…

* * *

**2 days ago**

Yuri came from underground after a long day of training with Kisuke. He was exhausted with the 14 hours he has been fighting nonstop with him. The only reason he is upstairs is because he needs to eat and then rest, because tomorrow it's back to the routine again. After all Yuri needs to grow in strength fast if he wishes to succeed. On his way down the hall he spots Rita sitting in the tree outside the shack. Yuri was curious with her right now and he never got a chance to speak to her about the mission he is going to start in two days-time.

He walks out the shack towards her and stands beneath the three branch Rita is sitting on. "You mind if I speak to you real quick?" Rita doesn't respond. She is apparently reading a book underneath the shade of the tree. "Rita?"

"What is it?" Rita answered rather coldly. "Don't you have something else to do besides waste your time with me?"

"Hey don't be like that." Yuri moaned. "I just wanted to talk about something important." Yuri tried to grasp Rita's attention, and he succeeded as Rita shut the book to look down. "Good, now-"

"If it's about me going with you guys to rescue Rukia then the answer is no." Rita said plainly to Yuri without leeway and she reopened her book to continue reading.

Yuri sighed, and pressed on. "Listen, I know you aren't in good terms with Rukia and such, but at least consider us going in there to rescue her. We are obviously-"

"I know the stakes that's there, the chances of success, and the likelihood of survival. My answer remains the same. No." Rita interrupted again. "I will not stake my life for her. Simple as that."

* * *

**Present time**

Although Yuri was glad that Rita is staying behind, he is rather disappointed in her behavior about it. Kisuke stepped in front of the group and faced him while waving his fan in front of him, but his tone remained serious. "Well, today is the big day. I did all I can to prepare you for this, now everything is on you guys." Kisuke closed his fan and put it away to place both his hands on the cane and stamp it down on the ground. "Once you go through, there is no turning back. Although with the lot of you I highly doubt that would be a problem."

"No, we are going through and saving Rukia, and we're not leaving until we do so." Yuri said plainly.

"Of course, I will be with them as their guide through all this." Yoruichi said as she leapt onto Flynn's shoulder. "You need not worry so much Kisuke."

"I know," Kisuke exhaled. "I have my trust in you that you will all return back in one piece."

"Don't worry, consider this a contract and you should be alright with that in your mind." Karol cut in.

"A contract that I'm not paying for." Kisuke joked with his usual mannerisms back, but it changed back to being serious. "Normally the only person that could pass the gate would be Yuri since the Soul Society is composed of…well…souls. But thanks to the soul exchangers that I have put in place, which takes care of that problem and the rest of you can now pass through."

"Thanks for the heads up. Good to know you're prepared." Karol said in praise.

"I'm always prepared for anything." Kisuke replied cheerfully, and then turned to Yoruichi. "Yoruichi, I can assume you will take control from here on out?"

"Yes Kisuke." Yoruichi stepped forward. "Once we pass that gate. We have around four minutes to run through to the other side."

"Why so short?" Judith questioned.

"Because if you don't go through in the elapsed time; you will forever be stuck in the border between the living and the dead." Kisuke explained as he stamps his cane down again. "So try not to trip." Kisuke grinned. Yuri returned the gesture, not feeling at ease at all from the warning. "Anyway, I'm opening the Senkai gate." Kisuke and Tessai walked to the opposing sides of the gate and sat on one knee while placing their right hand on the ground. "Once the gate is opened; you must all jump through simultaneously." Suddenly, a burst of light came forth from the gate, then it dimmed showing that the gate is now active. "The gate is open now. GO!" With Kisuke's shout, the group jumped through the gate without a second thought. A light shinned again and when it dimmed the group was gone, leaving Tessai and Kisuke alone. Kisuke rose up from where he was placed and brushed his hand against the structure of the Senkai gate. _The rest is up to you guys. I did all I could to help._

* * *

**Inside the Gate**

The group is running as fast as the can from the walls that were collapsing wherever they were last. Yuri was already carrying Karol under his free arm since he was running to slow. The others were keeping their pace rather smoothly.

"How long until the exit?" Flynn asked. "I don't know how long until I can hold this sprint."

"Well you shouldn't have worn all that armor Flynn." Yuri mocked with a sneer. "But yeah how long until we're out of here Yoruichi?"

"Well obviously we should be at the end in less than a minute by now. The exit is right ahead of us." Yoruichi stated as she was leading the way. The group looked forward and saw a light shining in front of them. "There it is!" AS Yoruichi shouted, something began to approach fast from behind. "Oh no don't tell me." A large tank-like object came careening towards the group and Yuri decided to pick up the pace.

"I don't know what it is and I'm pretty sure I don't want to get caught by it in this place." Yuri exasperated.

"Good policy at the moment." Yoruichi commented. "Now run faster!" The group did as was told, but the large entity from behind was catching up. Yuri, wanting to lose his extra _baggage_, threw Karol ahead through the gate and concentrated on running even more. He did so more as he sweep kicked Yoruichi ahead as well. All that was left was Yuri, Judith, Flynn, and Repede. Both had finally got enough momentum in their step to pass to the other side.

"Alright, we made it." Yuri commented, but he soon saw Yoruichi's paw into his eye. Yuri stumbles back and flinches a bit as he puts his free hand on his eye. "Hey, what was that for?"

"You didn't have to kick me like that you idiot!" Yoruichi shouted rather irritated by Yuri's previous action. "I know it was a serious situation back there but that was flat out uncalled for."

"Well I'm not complaining, mostly because it wasn't me that got kicked." Judith teased further.

"Yuri." Flynn exhales as he face palms himself.

"Ok ok, I'm sorry. Is that ok with you?" Yuri said with his usual snarky attitude.

"I'll do for now until we get a chance to relax." Yoruichi accepted. At that time, the group looked around their surroundings. The area's structures had the same feel as Urahara's shop in foundation and how the buildings were made, an old Japanese feudal era kind of thing, only that the group had no idea what that meant.

"So this is it huh?" Karol said looking around. "Is that where we have to go?" Karol noticed the structures were different in front of him then the ones around him. "I'm guessing that's the Seretei."

"Yes but-"

"Awesome, this will be a piece of cake." Karol interrupted as he ran forward towards the area.

"W-Wait a minute Karol!" Yuri shouted as he gave chase. As they closed into the area, large walls suddenly began falling from the sky along with a large gate and then covered the radius of the Seretei in a large boom. Yuri and Karol being the ones caught in the cloud of dust.

"Hmm. It's been a while since I had a challenger." An unknown voice called out to them from the front. Yuri instinctively threw Karol behind him and towards Flynn. The dust cleared away from yuri, but not the unknown entity.

"Hey, would you stop throwing me!" Karol shouted. Yuri didn't respond, only his action by drawing his Zanpakuto was the sign he gave of danger. The rest of the group did the same without speaking of the matter and the rest of the group ran forward into the cloud of dust.

"H-Hold it everyone!" Yoruichi called out. But at that time, a large Axe came out of the cloud and smashed the ground behind Yuri, destroying the floor tiles beneath them and spread them upwards to form a wall.

"How rude, don't you have any manners?" The smoke cleared with his booming voice, revealing a giant man in front of him. Only Yuri could see him. "My name is Jidanbo Ikkanzaka of the West Gate, and only two are permitted to duel. You all have to wait your turn."

"Guy's let me handle this one, it should be easy enough." Yuri said with his usual confident tone.

"Don't get cocky Yuri!" Flynn shouted. "We'll find a way to get to you!" Before Flynn could say anything else, spiritual power is leaked everywhere from Yuri's body and it shattered the wall that the giant created. "Yuri?"

"I told you to let me handle this." Yuri said calmly as spiritual power wraps around his Zanpakuto. "Let me have the first prey. Hauringu Tsuki." Yuri releases his Zanpakuto as his spiritual power's silver color engulfed his blade and arm. "Now watch."

"Hmm, you have a Zanpakuto? You're a shinigami, but a Ryoka as well?" Jidanbo questioned as he readied himself for combat, but he was knocked back by a powerful blow to the stomach by Yuri who moved instantly with his gauntlet hand. The titan fell on his back and Yuri leaped up in the air without giving Jidanbo any time to counter. Yuri came down on top and delivered a smashing blow to Jidanbo's chest with his fist, destroying his armor piece on his left arm as well thanks to the shockwave. Yuri leapt off and stood in front of the fallen titan. The group was at all at how fast the battle was, but also to how fast Yuri was as well.

"That was, Flash Step?" Yoruichi questioned.

"Yep, Kisuke taught it to me while I was training with him before. Not to mention when I had free time I was training to use it when Rukia was still around." Yuri explained since he caught wind of Yoruichi's surprise. However the moment ended as Jidanbo began to rise up again. Yuri immediately turned around and readied his blade.

_Incredible! Yuri not only got a handle of Flash Step, but he also executed it without drawback._ Yoruichi said in her head.

"You want so more, big guy?" Yuri asked the giant. However when Jidanbo stood up, he didn't pick up his weapon, but merely laughed. "Huh?"

"Why would I! You have beaten me so fast that I should be ashamed for trying again when I know I'm outmatched. It has been 300 years since I held this gate, but it seems that you broke that streak." Jidanbo commented to Yuri as he turned around. "Come, you may pass."

"W-Wait a minute!" Karol began to shoot a question out. "You're going to let us in just like that!"

"I have lost; I have no reason to complain." Jidanbo said and lifted the gate and placed it on his shoulders. "Now go boy-"

"My my, what is this?" Another voice called out, coming from the other side of the gate. Jidanbo immediately turned his attention in front of him, knowing exactly who it is in front of him. "What do you think you are doing Jidanbo?"

"Captain Ichimaru! I-I am opening the gate for these people. I have been beaten." Jidanbo explained.

_Who is this guy?_ Yuri thought as he looked around Jidanbo to see a man with silver hair and dresses similarly to Byakuya, besides the scarf and head pieces. The one thing that was notable about him was the smile that is on his face as he spoke.

"Opening the gate?" Gin said as he stepped forward. A flash of light shinned, Yuri's eyes managed to keep up with what had happened though. He saw that Gin's blade somehow extended from his hilt and cleaved off Jidanbo's arm. Not to mention the arm fell right in front of Yuri. "The gatekeepers aren't supposed to open the gate." With the sudden loss of his arm, Jidanbo fell on his knee with the door leaning on his back.

Yuri leaped over the disembodied arm and stood in front of Gin ready for a fight. "Isn't he supposed to be your comrade? Why did you do that?" Yuri exclaimed in question. He didn't know he was facing a captain right now, but his blade was seeping reiatsu right now, ready to deliver a devastating attack.

"It's simple, when a gatekeeper loses, they don't open the gate." Gin said as he walked forward even more and drew his Zanpakuto. "When they lose, they die. Simple as that."

"So you would hack away at your own-"

"Yuri you fool! Get back here!" Yoruichi shouted. "This is not an opponent that you can fight right now!"

"Yuri? So you're Yuri Lowell?" Gin remarked as he turned his back and seemingly begins to leave, but stops after he makes good distance between them. Yuri only raised an eye brow and immediately took a fighting stance. "More of a reason not to let you by." Gin said with his back turned. He drew his Zanpakuto, and then suddenly turned around to point the blade at Yuri. "Shoot to Kill! Shinso!" Somehow, in Yuri's eyes, the blade began to extend from Gin's hilt and is careening after Yuri. Yuri brought up his gauntlet hand and blocked the attack, but the impact caused Yuri to be pushed out the door along with Jidanbo who has been launched with him as they collided. The shot out through the gate and it began to lower itself. "Bye Bye." Gin said as the gate slammed shut.

Yuri got up, feeling a bit woozy from getting throw out the gate so fast. "Man that really was a wild ride." Yuri immediately shook of his commentary and looked over to Jidanbo who was lying on his back. "Jidanbo, are you alright?"

"Y-You're worried about me?" Jidanbo said weakly.

"Of course, after what I just saw, I can tell you aren't one of the bad guys." Yuri said as he looked over to his group. "Guys, get Jidanbo's arm, maybe we can do something about it!" Yuri shouted. the group ran forward, but they didn't bother to bring the arm with them.

"It's no use Yuri; he's going to live with one less arm for now one." Judith said plainly. "I don't know how to re-attach limbs."

"Same here. I can make small patch jobs, but I'm no miracle worker." Karol added.

"Same here." Flynn added. "But at the very least, let's stop the bleeding." Flynn grew his sword. Yuri took notice that he wasn't carrying his usual sword for the knights, rather it was a katana. The red colored spiritual energy traveled through his blade and he cried out, "Hell Pyre!" Flynn swished his blade around Jidanbo's wound where his arm used to be and set it burning with a flash fire. Jidanbo arcs his back upwards in pain and winced. The result ended up searing the wound shut and stopping the bleeding. "There, that should do until he gets real medical help."

"That was a bit extreme don't you think?" Karol questioned.

"Naw, back when I was in the knights severe wounds like these usually get taken care of by searing them shut. It's a quick fix when you are fighting and we can worry about the difficulties about it later. Thankfully I didn't have to charcoal myself in the past." Yuri said with a smirk and looked over to Jidanbo. "You should be alright now. Sorry we couldn't do anything about your arm."

"Why," Jidanbo wheezed. "Are you helping me?"

"You don't seem to be an enemy from what I just saw. Although I don't have a good reason to trust you, I'm just going to do so anyway."

"Yuri." Yoruichi exhaled softly. "He never learns. But I guess that's what makes him respectful."

"You said something?" Yuri asked as he turned to face Yoruichi.

"No, let's just get out of sight before we get caught." Yoruichi suggested.

"Where do we go? And what about Jidanbo" Judith asked. Suddenly, Repede began to growl knowing a presence was coming forward form behind the group. To their surprise, it was someone from the village behind them.

"Don't worry about him." One villager said as he ran up to the group. A whole crowd can be seen emerging from the homes in the area. "We'll take care of him. We saw what happened earlier, about how you faced against Captain Ichimaru."

"You know about them?" Yuri questioned.

"Yeah, come on in the village. If you stay there the shinigami are just going to pile onto you guys later." Another villager said. "Trust us; we aren't anything like the people in the Seretei."

"Yuri, if I could advise. These people are reliable and are not our enemy. In the Rukangai we are safe so let's take their hospitality while we can." Yoruichi said as she leapt on top of Yuri's shoulder. "This would also be good for Jidanbo as well when he needs to get patched up."

Yuri ponders on the thought for the moment, and then snaps his fingers in conformation that he made his decision. "Alright, thanks for the offer."

"We'll go get his arm, just hurry on inside." Another villager said as he runs with another group of people to get the arm. Yuri and his gang ran into the village and into one of the houses that the Village chief said they could stay in.

* * *

**Later That Night**

When things had finally settled down, the group began to rest in the inn. Karol and Repede have already gone to sleep. Yuri, Flynn, Yoruichi, and Judith are sitting at a round table in the room they were sleeping in.

"Crazy day so far huh?" Judith said trying to brighten the mood. However the two gentlemen did not react to her words. Yoruichi did though.

"Yeah, a lot has happened in such a short amount of time. Not to mention our journey almost got cut short." Yoruichi commented.

"That man I faced earlier. He was a captain wasn't he?" Yuri questioned Yoruichi as he placed his elbows on the table. "I can tell from the time his blade met my gauntlet that he had the force and power as one, not to mention he was holding back some of his strength."

"That was Gin Ichimaru of 3rd division, a very powerful adversary." Yoruichi said as she sat on the center of the table. "If we would have fought him there, we would probably have lost, even with our combined might."

"Not someone we should encounter later." Flynn cut in. "Our goal is merely to go in and get Rukia. We were supposed to avoid fights. That was the plan."

"It seems like the plan isn't going so well anymore." Judith remarked. "I believe now that a fights are now unavoidable."

"True, but you all must know one thing." Yoruichi said as the group turned their attention to her. "If you encounter a captain for whatever reason, you must run. None of you have the strength to tackle them by yourself." Yoruichi jumped off the table onto Yuri's lap and snuggled down. "Now get some rest, we will think of a plan tomorrow. And if you move from where you are Yuri when I fall asleep I will personally claw off your unmentionables." With that remark, she immediately fell asleep. The other two didn't say a word and slowly backed away from the table and into their own futons without a sound. Yuri sighed and leaned forward with his head on the table, making sure that he didn't wake up Yoruichi and shut his eyes.

_It's only day one and yet things aren't going as hot as we wanted them to be. Even though I assumed this would be the case, I didn't think it would be this bad._ Yuri thought as he slowly slipped into slumber. _Then Jidanbo's own comrade's cleaved off his arm. What kind of system are we fighting against?_

* * *

**A/N And now I'm done, Yuri has infiltrated Soul Society and has encountered Gin and such, who knows what is going to happen in the later chapters. Whatever the case, see you next time XD.**

**P.S: When Yuri released his Zanpakuto he did not say his release command, He was still talking to Flynn and skipped it. So rest assured there has been no change in that.**


	18. Fangs and Teeth

**A/N Well, another chapter is here even after I was so long gone with Noble Flames. Had to change my mindset a bit to continue, but it's all good. Anyway, enjoy**

**Third Person View**

* * *

Yuri woke up in the middle of the night with his head still down on the table. He kneels back and stretches himself out to get the tiredness away, but he stops short when he remembers that Yoruichi was still on his lap. He returns back to sitting upright and looks around the room. Everyone was still asleep at the moment, but Yuri was too energetic to stay asleep right now. Yuri took a gamble and slowly lifted Yoruichi from his lap without waking her. He placed Yoruichi on the pillow next to him; giving Yuri the chance to get up from his spot. He makes his way to the door, slides it open, and strolls outside the area towards the small bridge that connects two parts of the town. It was still night time, when the full moon was at its peak height in the sky.

**Nice view huh? **Hauringu Tsuki said in Yuri's head with a soothing voice.

_You can talk to me when I'm not in my inner world_? Yuri questioned.

**Yes, I tried not to make untimely appearances in your head for the first time. Who knows what you would do in response from me talking.** Hauringu Tsuki teased. Yuri sighed, but chuckled afterwards.

_You mind if I just call you Luna? Saying your name over and over again kind of gets annoying when I'm speaking to you. _Yuri questioned.

**Luna?** She pondered. **I have no objections to that. As long as you release me by calling out my real name that is. **She said accepting Yuri's want for a simpler name to speak of. **Besides that, what are you planning to do now?**

_You mean how do we get into the Seretei?_ Yuri questioned. _I'm_ _unsure at this point._

**Yoruichi might have a backup plan; she seems to know something that could help us since she was so calm before.** Luna thought. **You also have good comrades to back you up. I know since I've been watching you for a while.**

_That reminds me, how long have you been watching me? I know I was ignorant about you existing but still. _Yuri questioned.

**Since the day you were born.** Luna said calmly. **Although you have never shown to have potential with spiritual power, you always had it when you were young.**

_Why didn't you make it known that you were there? _

**Mostly because you were too young. By the time you grew up you had already carved your path. I could have pushed you into realizing your potential, but I didn't wish to destroy your lifestyle. But when I truly needed to cut in, your friend's powers were covering mine.**

_You mean Rukia's? _Yuri questioned.

**Yes, during your time with her powers, I was completely unable to provide assistance.** Luna said sadly to Yuri. The mood kind of got a little depressing, but Yuri felt a little sense of reprieve from her. **By the way, you have a guest.**

Yuri was confused to what she meant, but it was quickly answered when he turned to the right to see Flynn walking up to him. "I see you managed to get away intact?" Flynn joked.

"Very funny." Yuri chuckled, as they sat atop the railing of the bridge. "I knew you were an early bird, but I didn't think you would be up this early."

"Same goes for you. I know you don't usually get up and about at this time." Flynn remarked as well as he nudged Yuri with his elbow. "You seem to be doing well considering what has happened."

"I know," Yuri admitted. "This place is rather strange. It's as if we never left Zaphias and we just came into another city." Yuri scratched the back of his head and said. "It's hard to believe that this peaceful place is actually soul society."

"I'm pretty sure it's not going to be as peaceful once we go through that gate." Flynn said as he and Yuri turned to face the walls that surround the Seretei. Both of them stared at it for a few moments and turned back around. "But what do we do now that we can't get in through the gate?"

"Who knows, Yoruichi maybe? She apparently has some idea what to do next." Yuri commented as he looked down to the water to see his reflection. He finally took notice at some of his newer features. He was wearing the shihakusho as usual, but he had a scar above his right eye from his encounter from Zagi a while back. Although unseen, he had another one from him across his chest from the left shoulder to the right hip. Both of those wounds served permanent reminders of his encounter with Zagi, along with his defeat and consequences.

"Yuri?" Flynn snapped Yuri out of his trance and looked over to Flynn. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm alright." Yuri assured as he leaped off the railing back onto the bridge. "I'm going to see if Yoruichi woke up yet."

"Sure, let me follow you then. I don't want to make the people here more uneasy then they already are." Flynn said as he did so. Both of them nodded and walked back over to the inn they were staying at. Once they entered, they both looked to see the rest of the group was awake along with the Village elder who was sitting on his legs in the middle as if he was discussing something together. "What did we miss?"

"I was wondering where you two went." Judith said. "We're about to talk about what to do next."

"I woke everyone up since the group is well rested. It's better to get this out of the way now when it's early instead of in the morning when the shinigami are up and running." Yoruichi explained as she sat in the middle of the group. Yuri and Flynn looked at each other momentarily, and then nodded as they sat down as well in front of Yoruichi. "Now," Yoruichi turns to the village elder. "Do you know Kukaku Shiba?"

"W-What!" The elder seemed shock by her question.

"She likes to change her location at a drop of a hat, can't find out where that fool is right now. We need her help now." Yoruichi explained. As if on cue, clattering footsteps could be heard from outside and coming closer. Then the clattering stopped suddenly when it was mere inches from the door and someone flew through the door. Yuri raised his right elbow as Flynn raised his left one instinctively and shoved them into the man's face as he flew forward, while not bothering to turn themselves around. They knocked him back towards the door and he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Ow, what the hell man!" The man shouted as he rose up. He is a tall muscular man with chin-length black hair and partially missing left eyebrow. He I also wearing a black vest, a flower patterned bandanna, and pair of goggles. "Who do you think you are!"

"Ganju!" The village elder exclaimed. "What are you doing here! Go away!"

"What! I came here for the first time in years and this is how I'm greeted!" Ganju exclaimed as he stepped forward to stand face to face with Yuri and Flynn. "And what the hell is a piece of shit of a shinigami doing here?"

"Scuse' me?" Yuri questioned rather irritated with his remark. Flynn was eager to jump as well to this man for his behavior. Judith just sat idly by.

Karol sighed in discontent. _This guy is really asking for it._

"Huh? I'm asking you a question you-" before Ganju was able to finish his statement, Yuri and Flynn instinctively punched Ganju directly in the face with alternate hands and he flew out the room back outside. "Ow! What was that for this time!" Ganju shouted while on the floor.

His gang then swarmed around him and kneeled and asked, "Are you ok boss?" in unison.

"He won't be ok in a few moments." Judith's voice is heard as she, Yuri, and Flynn all walk outside the inn while crackling their knuckles.

"Just a side note, Flynn here and I used to fight in a bunch of bars back in the day. Most of the time we came out rather unscathed." Yuri commented with a grin.

"I have no jurisdiction with you, so I won't go easy on you guys at all." Flynn added in with a smile on his face that is seen as reassuring, that he will hurt them badly.

"I'm just here for the fun, don't worry too much if you break a bone or two ok?" Judith added with her eyes closed and chastised an innocent smile. The gang and Ganju gulped with fear as the door shut behind Yuri and they made their way to attack.

Inside the Inn, Repede yawns as the screams of terror and pain are heard from Ganju and his gang. Karol didn't mind much of it either; he just sat back and accepted the tea that was offered to him by the elder. Yoruichi sat next to Repede since Yuri was not here right now.

"You don't seem to be worried about Yuri much aren't you?" Yoruichi asked Repede. Repede responded by patting Yoruichi's head with his tail and a slight woof of content, with a tint of humor. "I would say not to pat me, but from you I say otherwise since it's hard to get your acceptance." Yoruichi rose and walked over to the elder. "Aren't you worried about Ganju?"

"Nah, a good rough housing would do him some good." The elder said with a large smile. "I think you're friends are old enough to take care of himself."

"I know they are able to take care of themselves, I know they don't have to waste an ounce of energy to deal with them." At that point, Yuri, Judith, and Flynn walked back inside the house at the sound of the stampeding footsteps of boars running away. "Had enough fun you three?"

"A little R&R wasn't so bad." Judith commented. "Although, it wasn't much of a fight."

"It was way too one sided, I felt a bit bad fighting them." Flynn admitted as he rubbed the back of his head.

"They were so weak, then suddenly the clock on the back of one of their gang members began to ring and they took off in a hurry." Yuri said shrugging his shoulders. "Now that was a waste of valuable time." Yuri walked forward and sat down next to Repede. Flynn sat next to Karol and Judith with Yoruichi. "So what do we do from here again?"

"We're going to wait until morning to head out to see Kukaku, while you three were out making your speech about bars or something like that, I got the information I needed." Yoruichi explained as she jumped back onto Yuri's lap. "Stay."

"Why do you like sleeping on my lap so much?" Yuri asked.

"Because Flynn is wearing armor, Karol is a kid, Repede is…a dog." Repede barked feeling a bit insulted by Yoruichi's comment. "No offense, mostly because I refer you over Judith."

"Aw, now I'm feeling lonely over here." Judith teased.

"You have Repede." Yoruichi pointed out as she snuggled. "Now get to yourself ready people, we got a long day ahead of us." The elder left the inn and the rest of the group got to their own corners of the room, preparing whatever equipment they have and taking the little rest they can get before sunrise.

Yuri, sadly, had to stay still again. _Why me?_

* * *

**Early morning, 6****th**** Division Prison Cell**

Footsteps can be heard outside closing in on the cell door where Rukia is currently housed in. The sun had just risen, and the light shinned in onto her back since it was turned to the door. The light bounced off her white woven robe

"What is it Renji?" Rukia asked as the door opened to her cell. She turned her head slightly to see the individuals standing at the door. "Has the date of my sentence been moved up?"

"Yes, there are now fourteen days left before your execution." Renji stated to her. "Use of the Sokyoku has been approved. Your lieutenant and I are going to escort you to the cell of Pentenance." After Renji's explanation of current events, the said lieutenant walked forward.

He wore a shihakusho like every other lieutenant with the band of the 13th division on his left arm. His shark blue hair is slicked back a bit and spiked slightly upwards with an antenna coming down the right side of his face. His eyes weren't as sly as Gin's but they were rather sharp. He had a serious aura around him showing he was here for buisness, but he also felt rather uncomfortable. "Rukia." He exhaled.

"Lieutenant Von Kunze. So you yourself are going to bring me to my next housing before death?" Rukia questioned.

"First off, I'm still fighting for your appeal." Jager said plainly. "And secondly, I said that I like to be called Yeager."

* * *

**A/N Yeah I know, this chapter was rather short since it was mostly for character development, but if I didn't end here I would not end for a good 5 pages and long chapters are unsettling to me. Anyway, you can all have a ball with Yeager's entrance and all. Well, see ya later.**


	19. An Old Ally

**A/N And here is another chapter ready for all of you to enjoy. I got nothing else to say besides that. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Third Person View**

Yuri and his group are travelling through the plains outside the village they were staying in. Yoruichi is leading the way to where Kukaku would be today, but the group has been having opinions about this person and is wondering if it's really alright to go and meet with her. Yuri was the only one that didn't mind too much, he just wants to get all the help he can. Flynn was the cautious one there along with Karol and Repede. Judith not as much but still she was questioning it.

Yoruichi stopped short before continuing onward. The group stopped with her and looked in front of them closely. They saw a medium sized shack in, but one of its more distinguishable features is the pair of arms that stretch out the ground and held a banner that reads. _Kukaku Shiba._ Also there seems to be a giant smokestack extending form the ground up behind the shack.

"Hmm, this time it's a pair of arms." Yoruichi stated in wonder.

"That's her house?" Yuri questioned. He took explicit notice to the large arms that stand from the ground. "Who exactly is this person?"

"An old friend of mine, her theme is different every time so it's not that big of a deal. It used to be worse sometimes." Yoruichi assured as she stepped forward. "Now let's get inside." Yoruichi moved on ahead with Karol, Repede and Judith. Flynn and Yuri were still trying to process what they are about to get themselves into. They looked at each other momentarily

"Uh, you first Commandant." Yuri said nervously.

"Hey this mission was your idea; I'm one step behind ya." Flynn shot back. Both of them cracked a nervous smile and chuckled weakly.

"Hey, you guys coming?" Judith called out from the distance as she was halfway there to the house compared to the two of them. Yuri and Flynn turned toward her, and then sighed in frustration as they walked side by side.

As they drew nearer to the shack they were stopped short by two imposing figures that stood on each arm. Their booming voice echoed in the air. "HALT!" They both said.

"Who are you infidels!" One said.

"What strange clothing you wear, and I see one of you is a shinigami!" The other said. Both of them jumped down from the top and landed in front of the door to the shack.

"Suspicious strangers." The first one said dressed in yellow garbs. "I, Koganehiko and…"

"I, Shiroganehiko…" The other said dressed in white garbs.

"Shall not let you pass!" Both said in unison. Yuri and Flynn casted a sweat drop and decided to stand in front of the group. Yuri stood on the left and Flynn on the right.

"Hey Karol," Yuri began to speak. "What was that you said about teamwork?"

"Huh?" Karol was caught off guard by Yuri's random question. "Well if we work together we always win. That's why we always work like a team." Karol explained like the instructor he tries to impose as.

"That's right Yuri." Flynn began, while casting a grin. "If we work together we always win. So you go left,"

"And you go right." Yuri added and as if they were in sync completely, they threw a punch from each of their sides into the two giant's faces. Both giants fell backwards from the force of the punches they each got. "Yep, we won alright."

"W-Wait a second!" Karol shouted. "Why did you guys hit them?"

Yuri turned first saying, "Well we don't like long introductions and,"

Flynn turned around second and said, "We don't have the time to deal with this."

Karol's head began to seem hazy as he could not process what he just heard. "I can understand Yuri, but Flynn of all people?" Karol swayed back and forth. "This doesn't make any sense."

"You do remember we both grew up in the lower quarter right?" Flynn added in to help clarify.

"Ah, true." Karol admitted.

"Will you two stop punching everybody?" Yoruichi asked sounding rather upset. "That was highly unnecessary." She stepped forward and made herself visible to the two giants. "Hey you two, time to get up." The giants rose up from the ground and rubbed their faces thanks to the soreness. When they put their hands down, they saw Yoruichi sitting in front of them.

"Y-Yoruichi-dono! Please forgive us!" The giants said in unison as they bowed before her. "We didn't know you were in their company, please proceed."

Yoruichi turned back around and looked towards Yuri. "See, it's not that hard?" Yoruichi teased. Yuri and Flynn face palmed at the same time and proceeded to the door of the building. When it opened, the first thing that was noticeable was the flight of stairs the goes down.

"This house is just full of surprises huh?" Judith said in amazement to tease Yuri and Flynn of the uncomforting feeling in their guts. The one named Koganehiko became the escort as he stepped on the stairs first. "Well, let's go then." Judith and Yoruichi went first, followed by Repede and Karol. Yuri and Flynn were still thinking twice about proceeding, but they gave in anyway as they gulped and continued onwards down the stairs. By the time they reached the bottom floor, the group that went ahead already went through the door to the right of them to meet with Kukaku.

"This place is actually rather nice." Yuri commented to the Japanese architecture of the house. "I wouldn't mind my house's interior being like this."

"That is if you ever get a house." Flynn teased, knowing that Yuri's current residence is actually a rented inn. "Anyway, let's head inside." Yuri nodded and brought his hand up to open the door to the room, but he was stopped by Koganehiko when he grabbed Yuri's wrist.

"Wait, please follow me." He said. "Someone else here wants to meet you two first." Yuri and Flynn looked at each other with confusion and shrugged their shoulders. They followed him further down the hallway and came to another door on the left side. "Sir, I have brought the gentlemen here for you."

"Thank you, you may leave now to the other guests." The unknown voice ordered, but Yuri and Flynn didn't pick up on it.

Koganehiko turned around again to face Yuri and replied. "You may enter, I must return to my duties." He bows and leaves them by themselves.

Yuri was the first to enter the room, followed by Flynn. It was rather spacious inside with several ornaments like flower pots, candles, and a table in the middle of the room to sit at. Yuri and Flynn sat on the cushions near the said table on opposing sides form left to right. The man was nowhere to be in sight, but they guessed he was behind the door on the other side of the room.

"Who are we dealing with now?" Yuri whispered to Flynn.

"Don't know." Flynn replied softly. "But he knows who we are if he called us out personally when we didn't know him." Yuri nodded slightly and shifted uneasily on his cushion. Moments later, the door opened and both swordsmen looked to the direction of the man. Both of their eyes widen in shock at who they were meeting for the first time in nearly 6 years.

"Oh come on now." The man spoke as he stepped forward. From the smoke that exuded form the room he was just in. He had short hair and tan skin while also sporting a scar on his chin. He is wearing a blue and white Yukata with a black white trimmed sash. He also has a pipe hanging from his mouth where the smoke was exuding from. "It's been eighteen years since I last saw you guys and all you can do is stare at me?" He cracks a smile at the two of them as he walked forward.

Both Yuri and Flynn stood up and shook off the crazy storm in their heads that was rampaging for those few moments. "C-Captain Fedrock!" Flynn exclaimed. As he stepped back a few feet. Yuri was still too stunned to move right now.

"Yo, how you two doing?" Fedrock said cheerfully as he scratched the back of his head. "I've been dead for so long that I'm wasting away here. Good to see you two didn't kick the bucket." Fedrock joked. "You two did not kick the bucket right?" After that, Yuri just burst out laughing, Flynn followed the same route and Fedrock was just confused. "Was it something I said?"

"Fedrock!" Yuri and Flynn shouted together in delight as they ran up to Fedrock and looks like he was about to leap at him. However Fedrock did not see the fists from both of them and he got punched directly in the stomach. Fedrock fell back and curled up in a ball. "That was for dying!"

"Oh come on," Fedrock whined "Give this old man a break?" Yuri and Flynn walked up to him and extended their hands. Fedrock looked up and saw that they are both smiling at him peacefully. Fedrock accepted both their hands as they lifted him up from the ground. "So I guess I deserved getting hit."

"Yeah, you sure did." Yuri said with a wide grin. "But Flynn," Flynn turned to face Yuri. "You think we are over doing it with the punching everybody we meet here?"

"Actually, no." Flynn said surprisingly. "I can actually let loose for once since I'm not weighted down by my position of commandant." Flynn explained as he brought his hand up to his chest and clenched his fist. "I think I'm actually having fun." He admitted with a grin.

"Well having fun or not, that still hurt." Fedrock said rubbing his stomach where he got hit. "You got no sympathy for the dead?"

"It's because you are dead that we punched you." They both said at the same time. Fedrock only could reply with a sweat drop to that answer.

"Can you two stop talking in unison?" Fedrock requested.

"No, we're going to do it to annoy you." Yuri and Flynn continued on.

"Oh come on. I was once your superior back in the day."

"I'm the commandant now." Flynn said while crossing his arms in pride.

"And I quit." Yuri did the same.

"And how are you supposed to be proud of quitting?" Flynn questioned.

"We wouldn't be in this situation if I stayed a knight remember?" Yuri shot back with a blank stare. Flynn only faced palmed to that note. "Hey, you know it's true." Fedrock started laughing at that moment, but Yuri was quick to shut him down. "Hey, just because you're dead doesn't mean you're retired."

"Huh?" Fedrock questioned what Yuri was getting at.

"Oh yes, you haven't made any important paperwork to sign yourself out." Flynn followed through with Yuri's teasing, knowing where this was going.

"W-Wait a second, I'm dead!" Fedrock shouted.

"Yes, but your standing here in front of us right now. Flynn is the commandant. You should put two and two together right?" Yuri clarified to him. Fedrock only pouted in defeat and sighs.

"So much for a reunion." Fedrock said with disappointment. "So what do you guys need with me, I thought it would be Kukaku that you needed help with."

"How do you know that we are here for-"

"What the hell else are you here for? Obviously neither of you is dead." Fedrock noted and then looked over to Yuri. "And you're a shinigami now. That tells me things are looking bad."

"Well we do need her help to get inside. But since you've been here for so long, I think information is needed." Flynn and Yuri pointed out.

"Again with the unison talking." Fedrock pouted again. "Alright then, take a seat and I'll let you know of what I can."

"Well this is more for Flynn then me. I already have some Intel about how things work here." Yuri pointed out as he sat on the cushion. "But what can we expect beyond the wall into the Seretei?"

"Ah, so you know of this world, but not the specifics." Fedrock pondered as he sat down on the seat between Yuri and Flynn. "Well there are 13 captains, along with the same number lieutenants respectively. Now with that known, you should know that the captains are on a completely different level of a lieutenant. Fighting them would be ill advised if you aren't at that kind of strength."

"Just a question though." Flynn spoke out, grabbing Yuri's and Fedrock's attention. "You said that things are looking bad, I don't think that just our appearance here is enough to make you think that." Flynn hit the nail on the head with that guess.

"You're right. Other things have been happening since that Rukia kid came back. The whole Seretei is in an uproar about something serious and I have no clue as to why. When I saw you guys entering the building looking the way you did, I could only assume that you are involved in this somehow. And I was right." Fedrock said as he puffed once with his pipe. "You guys are going to break into the Seretei. You wouldn't be here for any other reason is what I am thinking."

"Yes, we need to get inside and save Rukia from execution." Flynn said to Fedrock. Yuri immediately face palmed and sighed. "What did I do?"

"We weren't supposed to announce that Flynn." Yuri sighed again.

"Execution? So that's what is happening." Fedrock said softly as he looked down at the table's surface in a trance. "So you intend to save her how?"

"Simply we were to storm in and free her, and then take her back to our world." Yuri explained simply.

"Why so much trouble for her?" Fedrock questioned. "Is she worth the trouble?"

"That by itself is debatable, but she doesn't deserve that kind of punishment for what she's done. She hasn't even done anything bad and yet these people are about to kill her for nothing." Yuri explained. "She gave me her power when she couldn't fight, and that ended up with me taking her place."

"Alright, I won't question further. You proved me right at least." Fedrock said as he puffed once more. "Now let me fill you in on a few things, and then we can reminisce."

* * *

**Bridge to Rukia's Cell**

Renji, Yeager, and the other special guards that held Rukia marched their way towards the new cell that Rukia would be housed in until her execution is carried out. Yeager was still uneasy about bieng there to bring her staright to her destination, more so since she is blindfolded and bound so she won't escape. Yeager and Renji were ahead of the group so they began to talk to each other while she couldn't hear them.

"Renji," Yeager began. "Don't you find this odd at all?"

"The hell you talking abo-"

"Keep your voice down." Yeager said quietly, but fiercly enough that Reji got the picture. "I mean don't you think this execution idea is rather strange?"

"You're asking me this why?" Renji questioned.

"Just wanted to know that i'm not the only using his head is all." Yeager teased.

"What are you implying about?" Renji questioned as he clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.

"Come now boy, do you really think that-"

"Hush, we're here." Renji interupted as he opened teh dooe to Rukai's new cell. "I know that you are appealing towards Central 46 about getting the Execution called off, but what is getting me involved with you going to do."

"Help to do what's right, not what's lawful." Yeager said as he stepped to teh side as Rukia stepped forward into her cell. "You of all people should no about that right?" Yeager teased as he walked inside the cell, Renji decided to wait outside. The bounds were removed from Rukia and she was freely able to move, besides leaving her cell. Yeager walked up to her and silently said, "You know, there have been unconfirmed reports about A ryoka trying to get into teh court. From what i heard, he had raven colored hair and dressed like a shinigami." This caused Rukia to gasp slightly, but it faded afterwards. But her reaction was all that he needed for him to make his confirmations about his suspicions. "Just thought i'd let you know." Yegear walked out and shut the door behind him.

"What did you tell her?" Renji asked.

"Reassuring words of advice, you should try it sometime." Yeager mentally poked at Renji which irritated him enough to leave. _So you are here then. Things are finally unfolding for me to really figure things out. I wonder if i could use him to my advantage. Just you wait, I know it's you Yuri Lowell._

* * *

**Kukaku's room**

"So that's it huh?" Kukaku said as she leans back on her futon in the middle of the room. Judith, Repede, and Karol were sitting in a straight line across the floor with Yoruichi sitting in front of them. "All right then, I accept."

"R-Really!" Yoruichi questioned with excitement.

"Yes, and since Kisuke himself is in about then then there's no way I can say no. However," Kukaku rose up from where she was sitting and placed her left hand on her hip. "I don't fully trust the kids behind you."

"Well technically there were two other adults with us but there somewhere else in this building, roaming around probably." Yoruichi was guessing.

"Nope." A familiar voice spoke out from behind the door. It slid opened, Fedrock along with Yuri and Flynn walked in wide by side. "I just dragged them away to talk about the good old days, more or less." Repede immediately got up from his seat and bounced away towards Fedrock at full speed. "Repede!" Fedrock shouted as he kneeled down next to Repede, who barked in excitement. "SO good to see you, man have you grown." Repede barked again in pride. Fedrock chuckled at his reaction and then elbowed Yuri in the chest in a friendly manner. "I knew choosing you to watch out for this pup would pay off." Fedrock then took notice at the pipe in Repede's mouth. "Oh wow, I haven't seen this in ages. You've taking care of this for me boy?" Repede barked once more in acknowledgment. "Good boy, thanks a lot. Although you can keep it though, not sure if I can use it anymore." Fedrock chuckled.

"Um, you have me at a disadvantage here." Kukaku said trying to piece together what is happening here.

"Oh, sorry Kukaku." Fedrock apologized as he rubbed the back of his head. "I actually know these boys, before I…croaked, these boys served under me in the knights."

"Whoa, wait a second." Karol jumped up. "You're their former captain!"

"Yep, surprise to see my dead captain here of all places. Then again this is the afterlife." Yuri stated as he walked in.

"Uh huh. At least that helps in credibility." Kukaku said as she walks up as well. Yoruichi stands next to Yoruichi, kneels down next to her and whispered. "You never said anything about these two charmers." Kukaku teased.

"I didn't think I needed to." Yoruichi stated. "But what does this change?"

"That I can send someone I can trust and one that you can trust to." Kukaku said as he went into a seating position. Judith and the others went over to talk to Fedrock and Yuri about a few things so this gave time for Kukaku and Yoruichi to have a one on one talk for the moment. "I was going to send my little brother with you to keep an eye on you guys, but at the this time it seems that sending Fedrock would be better. He may actually do something besides keeping my little brother in line." Kukaku joked. He may not be a Shiba, but he knows our techniques and how things work.

"You trust him that much?" Yoruichi asked.

"Yep, met him ten years ago just wasting away doing nothing but drink sake and look at the stars. In fact, we met as drinking buddies at first." Kukaku confessed with a sweat drop. "Ever since then he has helped out large amounts of work here, but now he is just a baby sitter and a good friend to chat with."

"Funny how things work out for both our favors-"

"SIS WE ARE OUT OF MILK!" Ganju busted through the door at the side. The whole room got silent and everyone just stared at him blankly. Kukaku face palmed out of irritation.

"Ganju, what did I say about-"

"YOU!" Yuri, Flynn, and Judith said in unison as they leaped after him.

"OH NO NOT YOU GUYS!" Ganju screamed as he ran away the other door with the three of them chasing after him.

"They know each other?" Kukaku questioned.

"I'll explain later." Yoruichi said while pouting with a sigh. Kukaku only tilted her pipe a little, signaling Yoruichi to tell her now. Yoruichi sighs and replies. "We already had a run in with him, he caused trouble in town and Yuri had to knock some sense into him."

"I figured as much." Kukaku said as she rose up from the ground. "Koganehiko, go help your brother upstairs."

"Yes ma'am." He replied as he ran outside.

"Everyone else follow me downstairs." Kukaku ordered as she left the room, everyone else followed from behind. On their way down, they arrived in a well-lit hallway where Ganju was tied up with rope by Judith and Yuri. Flynn just happened to be there. "Oh good, you got him."

"This is your little brother?" Yuri questioned. "Sorry he got roughed up earlier, it was Flynn's fault."

"Hey." Flynn interjected sourly after getting accused. "He had the problem with-"

"Eh it doesn't matter, as long as you don't tear down my house." Kukaku said as she walked past them. "Anyway, you three follow me. And bring my poor excuse for a brother as well." With that noted; Fedrock ran up and grabbed the roping that tied Ganju down and dragged him along with the group. A few moments of walking through the corridor, they stood in front of a steel door that read _Authorized Personnel Only!_ "Fedrock, if you would."

"Sure." Fedrock walked up the door and pulled hard on it, apparently it was really heavy even to him. Inside the room it was dark, not much could be made out from where everyone was standing. Kukaku walked in first, then Yuri, and so on. They all gathered together in the center of the room to see a giant smokestack stand from their level to the outside.

"What is this thing?" Karol questioned.

"This is what I'm going to use to get you into the Seretei." Kukaku began to explain. "From the sky."

"The sky!" Karol shouted in shock.

"Wow, you weren't kidding Fedrock." Yuri commented from their conversation earlier.

"Yep, my name is Kukaku Shiba. The number one fireworks maker here in the Rukangai!"

* * *

**A/N Well, Kukaku's scene is done, and Fedrock has made his appearance as well. Now that things are taken care of here, who knows what is going to happen in the later chapters. Anyway, see ya next time.**


	20. Launch and Pierce the Heavens!

**A/N Phew, for the third time in a row for a writer's block (not to mention working on Noble Flames with Draconichero19) I've finally managed to go and make another chapter. Sry for the long delay, enjoy.**

* * *

**Third Person View**

Kukaku stands on front of what appears to be her cannon for fireworks and just revealed that she's an expert in that field and that she was going to get everyone to the Seretei this way. "Raise it up!" Kukaku shouted. Suddenly the area began to rumble violently and the floor began to rise from where they stood. As it continued to rise, the ceiling began to open up as well and the sun shinned in. To Yuri's surprise, it was being raised by the sheer muscle of the twins they ran into earlier. After just 30 seconds, the entire platform they were standing on was raised to the top level. "This is my personal giant fireworks platform:"

"The Kukaku Cannon!" Ganju shouted as he appeared in front of everyone, a bid mistake since Kukaku drove her foot into his back and sent him to the ground with a thud.

"Don't take my Crowning Moment you jackass!" Kukaku shouted. "And how the hell did you get untied?"

"Uh, that would be my fault." Fedrock said nervously. Kukaku sighed.

"Anyway, this is what I'll be using to get you guy's going." Kukaku stated as she jumped down from the elevated platform she was standing on.

"Are you serious!" Karol shouted. "We are going to get blown to pie-" the next things Karol knew was a strong glass sphere slamming onto his head and bouncing into Judith's arms.

"What is this?" Judith questioned as she examined the sphere.

"It's a spirit orb." Kukaku informed. "Try placing your hand on it and pump spiritual power into it."

"Like this?" Judith asked as she did what she instructed, a perfect orb was formed around her like a barrier in that instant.

"Yep, good job." Kukaku praised as she stepped next to Judith who still had the barrier up. "This is the special hardening spirit-generating device I developed for my cannon." Kukaku began to explain. "In other words, I can launch you out the cannon without you guys getting harmed."

"Ok, that much I got, but why do we need to go through such extremes to get inside?" Karol questioned.

"Oh, that's because the entire Seretei is covered in a dome thanks to the Seki Seki rock walls." Flynn explained as he stepped forward. "The material the walls are made out of are called Seki Seki rocks. They repel all matter of spiritual energy, but it also emits wavelengths around itself."

"That which creates an invisible dome around the Seretei that repels everything from the sky to the underground." Yuri continued on. "That's about it. Right Fedrock?"

"Yep, good to know you are actually paying attention to what I was saying Yuri." Fedrock said with a proud tone since Yuri has been the one not to pay much attention to the details back when he was in teh knights.

"Well," Kukaku started with a smirk. "It seems I don't have to explain much else to you guys."

"Nope, we just need to create a barrier around us with the sphere that Judith is holding." Yuri pointed to Judith who was still in her cannonball. "And you will launch us into the sky to penetrate the dome and force ourselves into the Seretei."

"That's the idea. Fedrock will help you with the infiltration. You all can go downstairs and start practicing because tomorrow is your launch debut." Kukaku explained. "Oh, and don't lose focus when you create your sphere."

"If you do, you'll explode." Fedrock finished with a sly grin. "And I'm not going to mop you up when you turn to a bloodstain." He continued the joke. "Now come on now, the faster we do this the better." Fedrock walked away towards the shack with Flynn and Ganju.

"Well, that about sums it up, let's go." Yuri said as he picked Karol up under his arm and walked away with Kukaku, Yoruichi, and Repede. Judith had just found out how to turn off the cannonball and it dissipated with a popping sound so she could follow Yuri and company from behind.

* * *

**Deputy Office Chamber**

All of the lieutenants were called earlier to report to the chamber and remain on standby for a meeting. Yeager was the first at attendance along with Momo who was sitting down on the ground. It was just the two of them for now since everyone was scattered all over the Seretei. Momo stood up and looked over to Yeager who had his back to the wall, arms crossed, and his eyes closed.

"Um," Momo began to speak, her uneasy start got Yeager's attention when he opened his eyes. Momo got a bit more nervous with him after that. "So…what do you think is going on?"

Yeager grinned and tilted his head to the right slightly. "Ah yes, well as far as I know; we had some intruders trying to go through the gate Jidanbo was protecting." Yeager got up from the wall and walked over to Momo. "I'm not much else advised besides that you see, besides Jidanbo losing."

"W-What?" Momo was stunned. "He lost!"

"Indeed, the one who tried to get in completely decimated the poor lad? I wonder what the man is up to now." Yeager rhetorically asked. Momo didn't know though and she pondered on the thought. "Whatever the case, the others might know more than we do." Yeager made his way to lean against the wall next to Momo in the meantime. After around a good twenty minutes of waiting, Renji and Iba had walked through the door.

"Abarai-kun." Momo said looking up the red-haired lieutenant. "Iba-san." She looked over to Iba.

Renji looked at her for a moment, than looked up as he saw Yeager leaning against the wall. "You here too huh?" Renji noted with a hint of displeasure in his voice.

"Awe, do I come a little too disliking to you Renji my boy?" Yeager poked at Renji with his words with a teasing tone. Renji merely looked the other way with a sneer and turned his attention to Momo. "So you two were the only ones here right now?"

"Well that's because everyone is scattered." A female voice said from the door.

"Ah wundabar!" Yeager called out. "The alluring Rangiku has arrived at last. It was becoming too much of a meat fest here with all the men."

"Hey what about me!" Momo whined.

"You're too young in my book." Yeager teased. "Get some more sleep and you'll make it…eventually."

"Well thanks for the vote of confidence." Momo huffed as she turned away. Yeager gave a slight chuckle at her response.

"Anyway, everyone is really busy after what happened. It would take at least a half a day before everyone gathers." Rangiku stated as she walked in to sit at the table. "I couldn't even get into contact with my captain." She whined.

"Oh, you mean that young lad Toshiro Hitsugaya?" Yeager questioned. "I believe he was preparing to go to a captains meeting since they were all called together."

"Captain Aizen seemed to be a bit odd lately." Momo stated with some gloominess in her voice.

Yeager catches on to her words rather oddly. "Aizen huh?" he muttered. To Yeager, Aizen was rather unsettling to him. Every time something involves Aizen there seems to be something mysterious going on. Yeager couldn't help but remember Alexei in his mind back when he was forced to work with him, the mask Alexei wore fooled everyone in Terca Lumires and now he's getting that same vibe from Aizen of all people. _Maybe it's just imagination, but why can't I shake this off?_

"Von Kruve-san?" Iba's voice called Yeager out of his train of thought. "You alright there buddy?"

"Ah yes, just peachy my friend." Yeager replied back with a friendly manner; trying not to show that he was deep in thought.

* * *

**Kukaku's House**

The group is in the lower areas of the house loitering around the area. Technically, they were supposed to go and train on making the cannonball, but all of them besides two have already completed that training. Repede had to naturally learn the basics himself and Karol had a hard time trying to get the cannon form to shape right. Sometimes it even collapses on him. Judith is talking with Kukaku and Yoruichi. Yuri and Flynn is with Fedrock talking about old times again like a bunch of veteran soldiers.

"Hey Karol!" Yuri called out as he turned from facing Fedrock. "Come here and take a break will ya. You're going to burn yourself out."

"No thanks." Karol said while panting heavily from his extensive training. "We only have until tomorrow to complete this. I need to be able to form one by then otherwise we can't go." Karol continued his training.

Yuri looked back at Fedrock and sighed heavily. "Oh man."

"Tough kid huh?" Fedrock commented as he took a puff from his pipe and exhaled out the smoke. "At the very least he's young, so he could go on for a little while longer." Fedrock looked over to the kid and saw how tired he was, wheezing heavily in the middle of the room by himself. At that point to make things worse for Karol, Repede had managed to perfectly craft his own cannonball after so many tries as well. "Would you look at that."

Yuri and Flynn turned their heads to Repede's location and saw what he accomplished. "Nice going Repede!" They said in unison. Repede barks in confirmation and disengages the ball to walk over to Yuri with the orb carried by his tail.

"Oh come on," Karol pouted. "I got beaten by a dog in this?" Karol sat down with his legs crossed and the orb placed on his lap. He took a breather with a heavy sigh. "Maybe I'm going on with this the wrong way?" Karol knelt forward and placed his forehead on the orb. He was feeling sleepy. The extensive training had put a large strain on his body and his energy is quite low now, but that didn't stop him. With his head still placed on the orb, he wrapped his arms around the orb and curled into a ball. He sat in that position to regain as much energy as possible by resting.

"Karol?" Yuri looked to his direction and saw him slouched over the orb. Energy began to form around the orb and then slowly the cannonball began to mold itself into shape. "Whoa." The cannon took full shape around Karol at last, to Yuri's surprise to boot. "Alright Karol!" Yuri cheered.

"Huh?" Karol said lifting his head up. His eyes looked hazy, as if he was about to fall asleep. Karol actually made the cannon unintentionally, so when he lifted his head up and saw the cannonball he gasped in shock. "No way!" Karol got excited with the last bit of energy in his body, a mistake on his part because the cannonball began to crack along the surface.

"Uh oh." Kukaku said plainly as she sat up. "Better take cover."

"Wait! NO!" Karol shouted as the cracks completely covered the cannonball and it erupted in a giant explosion with him still inside. A cloud of smoke exudes from where he was sitting.

"KAROL!" Yuri shouted as he sprung up and bolted towards the cloud of smoke. Yuri drew his sword and swished it once to drive the cloud away to see what became of his boss. Karol was in an awkward position while covered in a few bruises and dust. "Karol, are you alright?" Yuri asked as he kneeled next to Karol.

"Ugh, why me?" Karol whined weakly as he fell unconscious from exhaustion.

"Oh, never mind." Yuri said plainly as he rose up. "He's alright."

"That's good." Judith said sitting down across the room. "I was worried that our boss wouldn't be able to come with us."

"Nah, we would have tied him to Repede if that's the case." Yuri joked. Repede barked in discomfort of his statement. Yuri put Karol on his back and carried him back to his group. He places him down next to Repede. "I never thought he would blow himself up out of all people."

"Well hey; this isn't exactly an easy thing to do when you're not a soul reaper." Fedrock noted as he shifted to the left a bit and tilted his head. "Kido isn't something anyone could do."

"Didn't Rita train on using Kido though?" Flynn questioned to Yuri as he sat down.

"As far as I'm concerned, she asked Urahara periodically about it." Yuri continued on. "I saw her using it to in the basement below at night time during my training sessions."

"Wait." Fedrock interrupted. "Rita Mordio? The one who lived alone and is a blastia freak?"

"The same." Yuri and Flynn said in unison again. Both of them looked at each other for a few seconds.

"We got to stop doing that." Yuri stared blankly.

"Agreed."

"Well." Fedrock got up from where he was sitting. "I got to do something real quick before tomorrow. Can't exactly go unprepared right?"

"Sure, go do what you have to do." Yuri said and stood up again. "I'm going to go interrogate Ganju for food right now since Kukaku sent him and his crew into the kitchen."

"Yuri." Flynn said in a disapproving tone.

"Good point, I'll go make my own food. I can't exactly trust anything from someone I punched before." Yuri said with a snarky attitude. The group around him sighed with discontent and Yuri ran off out the room.

"You all might as well relax until tomorrow." Kukaku said out loud so everyone can hear. "You all seem to have this down as far as I can see, much faster than I thought you would take it to." She rose up and Yoruichi did the same. "I'm going to make preparations myself. Like I said earlier, meet me tomorrow at the cannon."

* * *

**The Next Day before Sunrise**

The group had assembled near the cannon. Everyone is at attendance to go and others to see Yuri's group off, except Ganju who still did not wish to confront them again. Fedrock dressed differently since he is going to be escorting the group. He wore his old knight uniform that he requested to be sowed a few years ago, without the armor pieces. Flynn actually did the same; he found his armor cumbersome in combat now that everything is rather fast paced now.

Yuri is in front of the group and looks up to Kukaku who stood on the platform above them all. "So, how exactly is this going to work?"

"Simple." Kukaku said as she tapped the side of the cannon with her backhand while still facing the group. A doorway opened to show the interior of the cannon. "Go inside and all of you create the barrier together. Fedrock is going to go with you and provide the second stage of the infiltration."

"So that's it?" Yuri questioned while shifting his body weight to the right, showing he is expecting more information than that. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to start the incantaion and launch you guys out the cannon when teh sun rises. That's my job." Kukaku said with a grin and stuck her chin up high. "Now get inside. The sun is almost up." Yuri nodded and looked towards his group; they did the same. All of them walked inside one by one until Fedrock was the last to enter. "Wait a minute." She called out to him before he stepped in. "Are you really sure about this?"

"Yeah." Fedrock said softly as he entered the room without another word.

Kukaku sighed; somehow it seemed more worrying than anything. "Don't do anything crazy then, going back isn't exactly smart of you Fedrock." Kukaku walked over to her position and turned to face the cannon. The sun began to rise now and the gleaming light shinned on the top of the cannon. "Time to go to work." Kukaku reached for her bandages on her head, tore it off her head, and it wrapped around her arm. As she begins her incantation, she slams her hand down on the ground, and the ground began to shake. Fire spouts around the cannon's base as it ignites. Seconds later, the cannonball that the group had made is launched viciously out the cannon and into the sky towards the Seretei. Kukaku now finished with her part, looks up to the sky in the direction of the launch and smiles softly. "Alright guys. It's all on you now."

* * *

**A/N Yeah, it was a little short, but it helped to get things moving along for teh plot and all. Next chapter will be a bit longer, but finally i can make things more serious since this has been a laugh fest mostly. Anyway, see ya. **


	21. The Group Scatters

**A/N Finally, with my projects for college done with and finals coming up soon I managed to get another chapter up for you guys. Enjoy**

**Third Person View**

* * *

The group is sent soaring into the sky thanks to the efforts of Kukaku and her cannon. The group is circled together with the orb in the middle so they can generate their flow of reiatsu better. Fedrock stood in between Yuri and Flynn as they generated the necessary amount of reiatsu into the orb. Repede ended up having to sit underneath it with his tail touching it because it was a bit crowded. The rest are in order. Fedrock just stood still with a stoic look on his face.

This made Flynn uneasy and decided to speak up to grab his attention. "Fedrock, is something the matter?" Fedrock snapped out of his stoic expression and looked at Flynn with a confused gaze. "You seemed to be deep in thought about something."

"Ah, well here's the thing." Fedrock shifted uneasily side to side, as if he couldn't find the words to bring out what he is about to say. Finally, he managed to grin like an idiot, close his eyes, and scratch the back of his head as he spoke the unfortunate words, "I forgot the incantation for the second part of the flight." The group was silent; the uneasy quiet air around them suddenly gave Fedrock a cold chill as he re-opened his eyes to look at everyone. Everyone's gaze besides Yuri's and Flynn's had widened like their eyes were about to explode, partly from worrying about what's going to happen next, but also with rage towards Fedrock's carelessness.

"That figures." Yuri said bluntly. His comment shocked everyone in the orb as they all turned to him with a confused look.

"What do you mean that figures!" Yoruichi shouted with panic as she sat on top of the orb. "You knew this was going to happen!"

"Not really." Flynn cut in calmly. "We just knew that he would leave out a specific detail and somehow screw us over." Flynn was right too. On their last mission together before Fedrock died during the mission, Fedrock forgot to mention that they couldn't use Blastia so much otherwise it would have exploded.

"We're used to it." Yuri and Flynn said in unison.

"Well it's good to know my boys know me so well." Fedrock said with a grin as he cups his chin with his hand in an L-shaped gesture.

"Why do I feel like he reminds me of Raven?" Karol questioned as he stared blankly at Fedrock. "Wait, this isn't the time for that! What are we supposed to do now!"

"At this point we have to pour all our spiritual energy into the orb at once to harden the cannonball as much as possible so we can punch through the barrier." Yoruichi shouted in command to the group. Everyone did as she had instructed as they each placed both hands on the orb and poured out all the reiatsu at once. The cannonball then hardened as they drew closer to the barrier that covered the Seretei. "This is it, hang on!" The cannonball impacted the dome and a shockwave of energy shot out from the force of the blow. Slowly, the cannonball began to push through the dome.

"It's working!" Karol shouted in delight of the progress. "Keep pushing guys!" With a war-cry from Yuri and Flynn, they finally pushed through the barrier. However instead of the orb collapsing and turning into a large vortex of energy, it flat out exploded. With that done, the group had scattered across the Seretei in all directions. Yuri, Karol, and Fedrock were falling together in one direction, Judith and Repede in another, Flynn off on his own, and Yoruichi the same as Flynn.

* * *

**Flynn's position**

He continues to fall at high speeds towards the ground as he looked downward. Flynn immediately got into action as he crossed his arms in front of him and started radiating his reiatsu along his body and coated him. He braced for impact as he came down faster and faster until he crashed into a warehouse in an unknown sector of the Seretei. Thankfully for him, no one was around to see him crash down in that area in particular. Inside the now wrecked storage room, a mountain of destroyed boxes and other materials is piled on top of one another and above that wreckage is the hole that Flynn made when he crashed through. A few seconds went by until Flynn's Reiatsu began to flare from the wreckage and all the boxes were blown away in all directions of the room. Flynn stood up, seemingly unharmed, but with the extra feature of his right arm looking different. It is blue with white strips following the arm's length. There were no extruded spikes and such from it though, and only the hand portion is actually visible since his clothing still covered his arm. He lifts his hand up to see the palm as he flexes it to check if it's alright.

"Kisuke was right about this power." Flynn muttered to himself. "This is different from Shinigami's powers." Flynn dropped his hand to his side and crouched low to sneak around to the exit. He looked outside the door and looked both ways to see that the close was clear. After seeing that it is, he took off in the direction that leads to the center of the Seretei. "Most likely that's where they're keeping Rukia. I'm going to have to hustle now to make it there. I just hope that the others are alright on their own."

* * *

**Judith's location**

Judith had Repede in her arms as they fell closer to the ground. Falling wasn't a problem to Judith since she had trained constantly for midair battles and is used to falling from high altitudes. She landed on one of the roofs in the area on her feet and set one knee on the ground as she dropped Repede to the ground. She pet Repede's head, who is seemingly unharmed as well, and got up from the ground as she brushes off the dust on her clothes.

"Well, it seems we're on our own then." Judith told her canine companion. Repede whines slightly that he got separated from Yuri and Flynn, but he liked the idea that he is with someone he trust regardless then just having to go by himself. Repede barks and strolls towards Judith. "Well, let's get down from here now."

* * *

**Yuri's Position**

"Oh man!" Karol shouted as he, Yuri, and Fedrock continued to fall. "We are dead. We are so dead!" Karol began to panic frantically with his arms flailing while Yuri carried him under his arm. Fedrock was falling beside them to the right with his arms crossed and in a sitting position. "And why are you so calm!"

"Who me?" Fedrock sarcastically noted. "Naw I'm just waiting for the right moment to shine is all." Fedrock gave a cheerful chuckle as he drifted closer to Yuri and Karol and grabbed onto them. He pivoted them around him until Yuri was planted on Fedrock's back. "You got a grip there Yuri?"

"I'm good." Yuri confirmed. Yuri didn't exactly feel very good about having Fedrock taking control of the situation right now. It usually ended with someone getting hurt or close to that. "What exactly are you planning?"

"You'll see." Fedrock grinned at Yuri which only made him worry even more. Yuri sighed in defeat since he knew he couldn't get Fedrock to tell him his plan. For now, he'll have to trust that he knows what he is doing. As they still fall, Fedrock stretched his hand in front of him and moved it in a swirling motion to the right and stamped the symbol that appeared in the air with his palm. The symbol was launched to the ground and impacted the ground where they were moments away from landing upon. Instead of the group impacted the ground, they fell into a pit of sand that was made by Fedrock by some means. "Well, that does it." Fedrock got up on his feet and shook his boots to get the sand out. He looks around to see that they are in some alleyway in the Seretei, although they don't know exactly where they are. Yuri got up and merely shook his whole body and hair to do the same.

"Hey, where's the captain?" Yuri said noticing Karol is not in attendance. He looks around to see that Karol's foot is sticking out of the sand and his whole body is submerged in the pit. "Well, looks like you want to go for a swim Karol. I didn't think you could do that in sand." Yuri said to tease the eccentric boy who started to flail the only leg that is sticking out. "Alright alright…hold on. I'll get you out." Yuri walked up and grabbed a hold on Karol's leg to pull him out with a pop. Yuri wanted to be funny and hold Karol upside down by his foot for the moment while he swayed back and forth. "Had a nice dip?"

"Shut up!" Karol shouted. Yuri chuckled and put him down on the ground. Karol patted his pants a bit and a whole fountain of sand poured out of it. "Man, I thought I would have suffocated in there." Karol finished dusting off and looked towards Yuri. "Well, we're here now. So what's the next step?"

"The shrine of Pentenance." Fedrock cut in which caused Yuri and Karol to turn their attention to him. "If Rukia Kuchiki is going to get executed, then that's where she is going to be placed until that day."

"Then it's to the shrine it is." Karol raised his hand in declaration. "I hope everyone else is doing alright." Karol pouted immediately after remembering that everyone got scattered. "I saw Judith and Repede fall together. But Yoruichi and Flynn are by themselves."

"You don't need to worry about them." Yuri said with an assuring tone. "Flynn can handle things by himself. He isn't a commandant for nothing you know. Besides, Yoruichi is a cat, what is the Gotei 13 going to do to a cat?"

"I-I guess you're right." Karol admitted as he looked through his bag to check if he had everything he needed.

Fedrock took notice to Karol's action and spoke out. "Hey, do you have something like a scarf or a mask?"

"Huh? I think so, but why?" Karol questioned as he pulled out a scarf for Fedrock and handed it to him. Fedrock wrapped the scarf around his head until his face is completely concealed besides the slit used for his eyes. "Um…Fedrock?"

"Sorry, I think it's better if my face is left unknown at this point." Fedrock noted as he places his hand on the wakazashi that is strapped to the back portion of his waist. "It makes things easier for me to sneak around and for you not to get caught."

"You make us seem like a bunch of villains now Fedrock." Yuri told his former boss.

"Aren't we already considered villains in here?" Karol commented. "Besides, you of all people shouldn't talk Yuri." Yuri sighed in defeat knowing where that comment was coming from. Meaning the time when he picks on everyone whenever he gets the chance for fun. Mostly on Karol though. "In any case, we shouldn't stay here unless we want to be caught."

"Oh, it seems you two have already been caught." An unknown voice pierced into the three men's ears as they sharply turn around to see a bald-headed man with the same uniform as Yuri and his sword on his shoulders. Another one is standing right behind him, he as dressed in a similar fashion with dark hair that drops to his chin-line while also having the odd feathers pointing out from the area of his right eye. "Hey, are you guys going to say something? Or are you just going to stare at us all day?"

"Sorry, I couldn't see your face so well since that shine on your bald head is blocking my view." Yuri mocked as he drew his sword mid-speech. "Could you please where a hat?"

"What was that about my head!" The bald-headed shinigami raged after getting insulted about that particular feature. "I'm going to grind you to dust now boy!" He leaped up and drew his sword. Yuri jumped out of the pit and locked swords in midair. "What is your name boy? It's proper to introduce yourself before he goes to kill his opponent."

"Yuri, Yuri Lowell." Yuri spoke out as he pushed Ikkakku away to the ground. Yuri landed on the ground moments later and took a battle stance. "And you?"

"Ikkakku Madarame, 3rd seat of 11th division." Ikkakku introduced himself formerly as he held both his sheath and sword in alternating hands. He looked behind Yuri and saw his two comrades watching from behind. "Yumichika, you can take those two."

"Hmm, fine by mean. Have fun Ikkakku." Yumichika replied as he ran off towards Karol and Fedrock's location.

"Damn." Fedrock cursed as he grabbed Karol under his arm and ran off in the opposite direction of Yuri. Yumichika gave chase and all three members have left the area, leaving Yuri and Ikkakku to stare down for a fight.

"You're not worried about them?" Ikkakku asked. "I would have thought that you would have tried to give chase to them since they're your comrades."

"Nah, I got faith in their abilities. They're stronger than you think they are." Yuri admitted to himself mostly. He knew that Karol hasn't been training for nothing during his time with Yoruichi. If anything, getting fireball spammed by Rita on a daily bases might have made him tougher. "I know they won't fall so easily."

"Oh man, if you have such faith in them," Ikkakku pointed his Zanpakuto at Yuri. "Then that just means that you will be focused only in fighting me."

"Well, you definitely better than a psychopath that I always had to deal with." Yuri commented with a grin, but that grin dropped for a moment as he unintentionally brought back that memory of their recent fight. He shook his head to wipe it out of mind. He has other things to worry about, like the person in front of him.

"What's wrong with you?" Ikkakku said, noticing Yuri's sudden change in behavior.

"Nothing." Yuri said coldly as he intensified his glare and stood sternly. "No more talking, time to polish that globe of yours."

"You're going to regret saying that!" Ikkakku shouted with rage and a satanic smile as he lunged forward again. He jabbed his sword forward towards Yuri's chest, but Yuri parried to use Ikkakku's momentum against him and pivoted around until he was behind him to deliver a horizontal slash across Ikkakku's back. However Ikkakku had his sheath in his other hand and he blocked the incoming strike while using the force of Yuri's blow to make some distance between the two of them. "Not bad. You're no ordinary swordsman."

"I said no more talking." Yuri flash-stepped in front of him and cut vertically Ikkakku's chest. Ikkakku had very little time to react to Yuri's action and was only able to step back slightly. He still got struck, But If he didn't step back that wound would have been much deeper. Ikkakku took the time he had left to jump back farther as he jammed his sword into the ground to help support his body since he was on the verge of collapsing.

_Damn, he can use Shun-po._ Ikkakku thought to himself as he regained his energy and stood in a battle stance once more. _I got careless. This guy is definitely not someone of just normal caliber_. Yuri didn't give him any more rest after that, he relentlessly gave a series of blows to Ikkakku of which he was forced to block all of them and not attack. Yuri kept going with the amount of blows he delivers and had no signs of letting up. Yuri's endurance and stamina is one of his greatest attributes which allows him to continue for a long time. Ikkakku however had a lot of endurance himself and then took a leap of faith as he lunged forward to strike Yuri with his blade.

Yuri saw an opening when Ikkakku pushed through, and with his free hand he delivered a devastating right hook directly into the left side of Ikkakku's face. The motion was so swift that the shattering impact caused Ikkakku to fly into the wall of the alley and a large dent was created on it as Ikkakku fell to the ground coughing out blood. "You're reckless."

_Damn. He countered me so easily!_ Ikkakku shouted as he stood back up to face Yuri again, only that Ikkakku was badly injured. He took note on Yuri's change of personality though. _This is so odd though, he was so snarky before the fight started, but now he's stone cold. Like there is no emotion in his blade,_ Ikkakku gulped and smiled widely. _Only the sheer instinct to kill! _"Good."

Yuri raised an eyebrow in question as he heard Ikkakku's word. "What are you getting at now?"

"It's good that I pointed my sword at you first." Ikkakku said as he slammed the hilt of his sword onto the sheath. Reiatsu surges from the sheath end to the sword's tip. "Because now I don't need to hold ba-" Yuri didn't give him a chance to speak anymore, he grew tired of listening to Ikkakku. He flash-stepped in front of him and delivered a blow straight into Ikkakku's stomach with a crushing straight punch. _W-What?_ Ikkakku started to fall back. _HE beat me? But I didn't even-_

"You wasted too much time talking to me." Yuri noted to Ikkakku as he grabbed Ikkakku by his garments and pulls up him until he was in the air directly above Yuri. "You should have released your Zanpakuto sooner." Yuri slams him down on his back with bone shattering force to the ground; Yuri just left him there though. He already wasted enough time with Ikkakku and needed to catch up, but he didn't move for a moment and simply looked at his hand with soft eyes of concern, mostly on what he had just did. Yuri had never felt this feeling like this before in a long time. Not since he murdered Ragou and Cumore. Yuri sighs deeply and looked towards Ikkakku with sympathetic eyes. Yuri allowed himself to allow something like a memory of Zagi get into his head when fighting Ikkakku, and for that he felt like a monster.

"Hey." Ikkakku muttered softly, it was still loud enough to get Yuri's attention. "Why didn't you finish me off?" Ikkakku coughed out some blood again and flipped over his body until he was flat on his stomach. "You won. So it's only natural that you kill your enemy."

"No." Yuri said plainly. "If I win a fight, that just means I have the choice to kill you or not. There is no such rule." Yuri walked over to Ikkakku's side and stared down on him. "I'm going to let you live. Be thankful enough about that." Yuri nodded and began to walk over to where Fedrock and Karol ran off to.

"W-Wait." Ikkakku spoke as loud as he could to get Yuri's attention again. "Can I assume that you are the strongest out of everyone?"

"I guess you can." Yuri grinned, but dropped it immediately as he saw Ikkakku's serious face. "What?"

"Then beware my Captain of 11th division. He is one of the strongest Shinigami around here. HE doesn't bother with anyone else but the strongest of his enemies." Ikkakku began to explain. "If you should run into him, be warned that he is someone that close to no one that was defeated in battle against him and lived to speak of their fight"

"Why tell me this?" Yuri asked questioning Ikkakku's motives. "Because most likely, he'll be after you. IF you do meet him, don't die too quickly." Ikkakku's last words to Yuri really were etched deep into Yuri's mind as Ikkakku fell unconscious. Yuri turned around again and made his way to Fedrock's location without another word.

* * *

**Fedrock's location**

Karol is still being carried by Fedrock as they run around the area where Yuri did his fighting with Ikkakku while still being chased by Yumichika. Fedrock didn't want to separate too far from Yuri, so he decided to just make constant loops until he was done so they can make a quick disappearance. Karol is getting nauseous from all the running Fedrock has been doing and felt very woozy to the point where he's about to lose consciousness. He shook it off though and looked behind him.

"What's the matter?" Yumichika spoke out as he continued to pursue them. "Are you too cowardly to face me that running is all you can do?"

"Oh man. I really didn't want to get into a fight so early!" Karol admitted as he turned back around.

"Not that I'm cowardly. This guy just gives me the creeps." Fedrock mocked as he picked up speed.

That comment started to get Yumichika peeved. "How dare you consider someone as refined and beautiful as me to be creepy!" Yumichika picks up his pace to continue his pursuit.

"Way to go Fedrock!" Karol shouted with anger. "You made him mad!

"Hey i speak the truth kid, nothing else." If Karol could have seen Fedrock's face, he would see the wide grin plastered on Fedrock's face.

Yumichika got really mad at that comment and decided to Flash-Step in front of them to cut them off. "That's it! Face me now!" Yumichika draws his sword. "I'll show you what it means to invoke the wrath of a high ranking officer of the magnificent Squad 11"

"I don't have time messing with you!" Fedrock shouted as he threw Karol to the side of the alley and lunged forward to deliver a straight punch towards Yumichika. Fedrock had enough momentum to trample Yumichika flat if he tried to strike of block, so that forced Yumichika to dodge roll to the left. Fedrock pulled the brakes on himself and he slid a good thirty feet before stopping fully.

"Sorry but I've just challenged you to a duel. One of you has to accept and neither of you are going anywhere until I get some action."

"Then you chose the wrong person to pick a fight with." Fedrock said as he drew his wakazashi from its sheath and held it upside down.

"I could say the same about you. I trust you know who you face?" Yumichika beckoned as he walked forward, Fedrock did the same as they both locked eyes.

"Yumichika Ayasegawa, 5th seat of the 11th division. Your comrade is Ikkakku Madarame who is 3rd seat. Yachiru is lieutenant of 11th division with the captain being Kenpachi Zaraki" Fedrock told him the important members of eleventh division without losing a beat. "Your squad is mainly put on the front lines during initial encounters with enemy forces."

"Your very knowledgeable of Gotei to know all of that." Yumichika's smile that was on his face had disappeared because now he knows that Fedrock is more than just a regular enemy, although it doesn't help him if he can't see his face. "Who exactly are you?

"Don't worry about the details about me." Fedrock flash-steps to the side of Yumichika instantly without him knowing what just happened. "Just worry about how fast you're about to hit the floor."

"W-What the-" Yumichika lost balance as he was forced to bed backwards to dodge the horizontal slash Fedrock gave. Yumichika swung his blade from the ground up to hack at Fedrock, but Fedrock pivot to the right to dodge and swirled to deliver a sweeping kick to Yumichika's face. The attack connected and Yumichika was sent flying down the alley and past Karol.

"W-Whoa." Karol gasped in shock at Fedrock's fighting skill. He never knew that he was this good at fighting.

"I told you that you should have been worried about how fast you would hit the floor." Fedrock said with his eyes closed and a disappointed tone of voice. "You know, why does no one ever take me seriously enough." Yumichika rose back up from the ground with an irritated look on his face. "Hmm? You want more?"

"You swine!" Yumichika shouted in rage. "How dare you disgrace my face like this!" He pointed to his bruised face with some dirt on it as well. "For this you will suffer!" Yumichika ran forward. "Bloom! Fuji Kujaku!" Yumichika's Zanpakuto became its quadruple sickle-like blade form and made to attack Fedrock again. "Now you shall die!"

"Same as always it seems." Fedrock noted as he pointed his palm to Yumichika. Yumichika immediately got defensive from seeing Fedrock so calm. "Hado 58, Tenran." Fedrock said softly as a winding tornado shot out of his hand and enveloped Yumichika as he swirled out of control until he was shot into the air. Yumichika was caught off guard; he never thought that Fedrock would know kido at all, this proved to be his downfall. He looked back down after he just stopped being thrown around to see Fedrock point his index finger at him. Sadly, a gust picked up which kept Yumichika from making any moves to dodge. "Hado 33, Sokatsui." A blast of lightning fired out and directly hit Yumichika to send him flying away from the area entirely. Fedrock didn't want to kill him, so he fired it as a blunt impact instead of piercing.

"Wow!" Karol shouted as he ran up to Fedrock with excitement. "That was so cool!" Karol's cheers continued. During that time, Yuri made it onto the scene. "Yuri, you're alright!"

"Yeah I'm alright, but what the heck was that?" Yuri questioned. "The first thing I saw was a tornado, then a blast of lighting. I knew you guys had to be here but-"

"It was awesome!" Karol cheers again. "Fedrock was like BAM, and then the other guys was steaming mad! Then Fedrock shot a tornado out of his hand, and then a bolt of lightning!"

"Um…I can explain a little better." Fedrock interrupted. "But first, let's get ourselves out of the open. I'm pretty sure I attracted a lot of attention after that display."

"Well you sure did get my attention." Yuri joked with a grin. "But yeah, let's disappear." The three of them nodded and ran off.

* * *

**A/N Well that was a good chapter I got through. The stage is set and the fighters have fought…mostly. Anyway, see you next time.**


	22. Scattered Warriors

**A/N Ok so there will be a few words in German so I will have the translations at the bottom of the page. Although these are pretty common so I don't think that would be much of a problem. **

* * *

**Third Person View**

During the time Yuri was fighting Ikkakku, Judith and Repede has been fighting their way through a series of lower ranked officers through the alleyways. Right now they were strolled casually down the lane with a pile of shinigami toppled over each other behind her as they walk away. Repede walked beside her with his blade still in his mouth; Judith's spear was still drawn as well. Soon after, more shinigami came charging after her from the front. Judith and Repede got ready for another fight; it quickly ended with very little effort from either of them as each shinigami that got close was blown away in different directions.

"This is no fun." Judith muttered as she swung her spear horizontally again to blow away another group of incoming shinigami. "These guys are like the peons in the knights; way too easy to beat." Judith leaped up into the air after she wiped out the remaining shinigami guards. Repede followed suite with her and they both landed up on a rooftop to evade any more guards. Judith stamped the blade portion into the ground to leave it in place so she can take the time to stretch out her arms and legs. "You ok Repede?"

Repede gave a confirming bark as he sat down to yawn for a bit. Judith sat down as well and hid her spiritual pressure to avoid detection. All the guards that came onto the area to investigate just passed by without finding them. Repede whined a bit as he looked out to the distance as he thought about his master. After a few moments of rest, although for Judith it was boredom, a large figure suddenly came onto the scene and tried to deliver a blow to Judith who was still seated. Judith knew someone was behind her and reflexively grabbed her spear to hold it above her with one hand and block the strike with no trouble at all.

"Oh my. That was sudden." Judith said in her usual manner as she rolled forward and got on her feet. She turned to see a large shinigami who seemed ready to fight. "Are you good at fighting? The last few I took down didn't really put up a fight."

"Hah!" The large shinigami shouted. "If you think those peons are worth anything compared to me, you can forget it. I'm levels higher than they are." With pride, the large shinigami took a stance. "I, Jirobo Ikkanzaka shall give you the time to regret crossing paths with me!" Jirobo crossed his arms and waited for Judith to make a response. However, she made known that would be of Jirobo's expectations as she only tilts he head in wonder. "Something wrong?"

"You're awfully big, but are you strong?" Judith inquired as she swung her spear sideways. "I hope so. I have been rather bored lately dealing with the small-fry." Judith took a battle stance; Repede however just sat in place and watched since he knew that he didn't need to jump in at all.

"Your time is up." Jirobo shouted as he resumed his battle stance. "Prepare to die!" Jirobo runs forward at full speed towards Judith, the latter leaping up in the air.

"Moonbeam!" Judith howled as she disappeared and reappeared above Jirobo; throwing her spear down with great force. Jirobo jumped back, but the force of the attack shattered the ground and the roof began to collapse below him. Repede leapt off to the roof next door with Judith who landed next to him as Jirobo fell through. "Whoops. That wasn't supposed to happen." Judith gripped her spear tighter and jumped back up to see the damage she caused. However, Jirobo was not anywhere she can see. "Did he run away?"

As if on cue, Repede is heard barking viciously from Behind Judith. She turned back around to see Jirobo attacking Repede who had him in a deadlock. Repede pushed him back and jumped to the left to give room for Judith to land near him. Judith does so and resumes her stance. "Come on, I'm your opponent." Judith snapped.

"You do not judge who it is I fight." Jirobo shot back. "For what I see, this is a two on one."

"Suit yourself." Judith merrily replied. Repede dashed forward and made to attack the front, but Jirobo leaped to the side to evade. Judith ran to the side Jirobo jumped top and swung vertically to the ground with great force. Jirobo put his sword up, blocked, and pushed Judith away with all his strength. Judith back flipped to help disperse the force of the push off of her and lands a couple of meters away. "Not bad. This time I get to have a better fight."

"Hah, don't be so excited about it!" Jirobo huffed as he pointed his sword forward to her. "You haven't seen the best I can do." Jirobo twirled his sword in front of him until it pointed up. He places his hand on top of the blade and shouts out, "Flap away!" He pushes his hand down the blade. "Tsunzakigarasu!" AS he pushes down, the blade disappears, and several windmill like blades began to float around him. "AS I said before, I'm 4th seat of 7th squad, Jirobo Ikkanzaka! Also known as Kamaitachi Jirobo!"

"I thought we were finished talking?" Judith grumbled. "I'll just make the first move while he's having his monologue." Judith ran forward.

"Fool." Jirobo caught on to her attack and directed his flying blades at Judith. Judith jumped up to dodge the first set and spun around in midair to dodge the second set.

"Dawn Moon!" Judith shot herself down towards Jirobo and landed in front of him, then followed up by lunging upwards to kick him directly in the chest to send him back into the air with her. "Luna Rondo!" She twirled gracefully as she delivered a blast of reiatsu to Jirobo in a small cyclone. Jirobo lost footing completely and was now at Judith's mercy, but he quickly forgot that there were two in this fight. Repede came from the side and charged at him full speed while slashing across once again to disarm him completely of his weapon. The blades dropped to the ground and Jirobo landed on his back.

"Damn." Jirobo cursed as he rose back up to face Repede. "To get beaten by a mutt." Repede barked angrily as he charged forward again. "I won't lose!"

"New Moon Blade." Judith was waiting for Jirobo to forget about her and stabbed forward into Jirobo's shoulder. "Gotcha." Judith pulled her spear out. The motion caused Jirobo to get pulled back, so Judith followed up with a spinning motion kick to his back. Jirobo flew forward to Repede who was ready to deal the next blow by slicing across Jirobo's chest deeply enough to wreck Jirobo's ribcage. Repede jumps to the side to avoid getting crushed underneath Jirobo's dead weight. With Jirobo down for the count, Judith stepped forward next to Repede and poked at Jirobo's body. "Yep, he's dead." Repede barked in confirmation. "We should get moving, I think a half destroyed building may attract too much attention." On that note, they both took off.

* * *

**Flynn's Location**

In a different area, Flynn is cruising along the area to find his way around the maze like region. Every so often a few enemies come by, but Flynn always evades them in time by jumping over the wall to the other side so he is out of site. A few more enemies come from the front of him again, however Flynn decided to draw his blade and attack instead. His arm transformed again and began to emit reiatsu from his hand up to his shoulder. The color of it is white with a blue outline, and that same reiatsu began to coil around Flynn's saber until it covered it like an extra layer of steel.

"Take this!" Flynn shouted as he swung his sword vertically to the ground. Doing so caused the floor to break as a shockwave lurches forward at sonic speeds; leaving a trail of destruction where it's started. The attack made contact with the group of enemies and sent them all flying to different directions all over the place. The ground looked like an earthquake hit and broke the area completely. "Good." Flynn sheathed his sword and transformed his arm back to normal. "With all this damage done, it should bring the enemy to this location. That way if I run now I can evade most of them later." Flynn took no chances and leaped over a few partitions to get to the next area. "I hope you're having an easier time than I am Yuri." As Flynn is running, he looks to the distance to see the Shrine of Pentenance. It is closer, but not by much. "I have to pick up the pace. Yuri is already so much closer and I don't really feel like hearing him gloat about it later." Flynn grinned and picked up speed.

* * *

**Yuri's Location**

After Yuri and company wandered around left and right around the district, they managed to get inside an empty warehouse to hide away for a while. They set a few boxes around them so if anyone came in they wouldn't notice them sticking out. Fedrock, who still had his mask on, sat back on one box one the ground while Karol sat above him. Yuri lied down on the floor with his arms behind his head as leverage.

"Well, what now?" Karol questioned swinging his legs in front of him.

"In about another thirty minutes we can get moving to the underground network." Fedrock told the two while crossing his arms and shifted a bit to get cozy in his corner. "Once then we can make our way to the center a lot easier." Fedrock yawned and shut both his eyes.

"Getting tired?" Yuri inquired. "It's not like you to lose energy like that."

"Yeah well it's been a while since I actually got into a fight, so I'm going to take this time to get a quick shut eye until I get used to pulling off all my attacks." Fedrock explained.

"You might as well." Karol agreed. "We got a lot of tough fights ahead of us."

"Yeah." Yuri sat up. "But remember, we're here to grab Rukia and bolt and not to beat everyone here. We are messing around in a world we aren't supposed to be in of course." Yuri looked to Fedrock's direction and spoke to him directly. "How exactly do you know Kido of all things?"

"I've been here for a while remember?" Fedrock opened one of his eyes and peered towards Yuri. "After 18 years you would think that I would pick up on things right?"

"Good enough." Yuri was satisfied by Fedrock's answer since the question was out of pure curiosity. Yuri gets up on his feet and walks over to the door to peek out and see if anyone is running amok. After a few moments of silence, Yuri turned back around and faced his companions. "We should actually go now while we have the chance. I don't really want to be fighting my way through everything if we have to go underground."

"Fine." Fedrock sighed and got up on his feet. "Let's go to the underground network and make our way closer to the center." Fedrock turned to grab Karol from above him and placed him on the ground. "Let's move." Fedrock walked over to the door, peered outside, and walked out to give the signal that it was clear. After a few turns around the area they were in; they got to alley that had a removable tile on the ground that lead deep underground. Without hesitation, they all jumped in.

* * *

**First Division Barracks, Meeting Room (An hour later)**

All the lieutenants are at attendance in the barracks while Iemura arrived for his report on the situation with the Ryoka and other events. Yeager is sitting in the back of the room in between Renji and Momo.

"Scheduled report. 11th squad, 3rd seat Ikkaku Madarame-sama and 5th seat Yumichika, both high-ranked officers have left the battle field due to serious injury." Iemura said informatively. "We are currently investigating injury statues of all squads. However, as for 11th squad, we have essential reports that they have just been annihilated."

"Annihilated?" Yeager spoke out loud enough for only Momo and Renji to hear, although he made it sound as if he expected that would be the case. "Oh my, this certainly won't do at all."

"Hush." Momo placed her finger near her lips to signal Yeager to stay quiet.

Iemura continued his report. "At this point, we have confirmed at least four Ryoka in the vicinity. However one of the spiritual forces suddenly vanished without a trace and we're having trouble locating it."

_Yuri Lowell_. Yeager's initial thoughts were as he ponders on the report.

"In other news, Jirobo Ikkanzaka has been reportedly KIA as of recently after his confrontation with one of the Ryoka." Iemura stated. This only grew more tension around with the Lieutenants.

"KIA!" Iba shouted in shock. "How was he taken down so quickly! Are they really that strong?"

"They might have just gotten lucky." Shuhei pondered. "His skill is higher than most his rank, so I would assume that they might've-"

"Nein." Yeager spoke out once more to get everyone's attention. "Luck has no place with these individuals. I don't think that they would come and break in with no skill. Tsk tsk tsk, that's just unwise."

"You make it sound like you know these ryoka Von Kruse-san." Rangiku pointed out as she strolled over to him. "Care to enlighten us?"

"Nicht veil, I got nothing else to say about them. Just some guess work I made with what I have is all." Yeager defended and laid his back against the wall. He looks down towards Momo who had both her hands clenched near her head that shook slightly in anxiety. "What's wrong junge?"

"So much has happened after so little time." Momo softly noted to Yeager while peering more to the floor as if gravity had just intensified. "What exactly is going to happen now?" Yeager, feeling Momo's worried mind, decided to pat the poor girl on her head with assuring movement. Although that action didn't spawn the reaction he expected. "Why do you always treat me like a kid?"

"Because you are to me junge." Yeager continued to tease Momo for his own enjoyment, but a part of his time back at supporting the orphanage when he was still the leader of Leviathan's claw. His usual smile he always keeps on his face got a lot friendlier and softer when he started thinking back on the kids he used to visit.

"Von Kruse-san?" Momo snapped him out of his daze he fell into.

"Ja." Yeager exhaled slightly as he shakes of the feeling that was present. However his smile dropped and his attention turned to behind him as he hears footsteps leaving the premises. He turns to notice that Renji is nowhere to be seen and that the back door is slightly open. "Now where could he be off to?"

* * *

**Outside Stairway to Center**

Yuri, Fedrock, and Karol emerged from the tunnels below the floor and set the tile back in place. After a pat downs to remove the dirt from their clothing, all three of them turned to face the stairway that lead up to the next area they needed to get to. Although the fog made everything hard to see clearly, the shrine of Pentenance can be seen closer than before from where they stood; giving Yuri a more assuring feeling in his gut as he took in the sight.

"Almost there." Yuri exhaled slightly as he took a few steps forward.

"W-Wait a minute Yuri!" Karol shouted. "What about the rest of us!"

"Keep your voice down Karol. We don't want to attract unwanted guest." Fedrock suggested to the frantic boy. "We can't wait here, we would only get caught. The best we can do is push on and complete our objective before time runs out for us and we're all in trouble."

"Fedrock's right." Yuri stopped momentarily to turn and face his captain. "We need to get this done as fast as possible." Yuri's voice was more commanding this time and all that Karol could do is nod in agreement to his claim. "Good, now let's hurry before we're caught."

"It's too late for that." A familiar voice is heard from behind Yuri, but he didn't react in a defensive manner. Yuri knew who that was coming in from behind him and turned ever so slowly to see the silhouette of the man he confronted back in Zaphias. He knew it was him due to the unique shape of his head thanks to that high pony tail.

"I didn't think we would meet again so soon." Yuri admitted as he drew his sword out of his sheath in the usual flashy manner ha makes. "I actually wanted to fight you again, Renji Abarai."

"Is that so?" Renji inquired as he emerges through the fog with his Zanpakuto out in its shikai form already. "You even remembered my name. I'm touched."

"Trust me, you're not going to be feeling the way you are now when you touch my cold steel." Yuri grinned and took his stance. "I won't bother with the formalities at this point. Karol, stay back."

"O-ok." Karol didn't say a word in defense, knowing that whatever confrontation this is, Yuri would be able to handle it. Yuri didn't even need to say anything to Fedrock; he knew that he needed to stay back this time and just watch. In all honesty though, Fedrock has been dying to see what Yuri is capable of now ever since he died 18 years ago, to him that is.

Yuri made the first move and flash-stepped to the right of Renji to deliver a vertical strike to him. Renji, although caught by surprise, flash-stepped away to avoid the attack. Renji stared at Yuri or a moment in shock. "You can use flash-step!"

"You should be more focused on fighting me, not in talking about my improvements." Yuri noted to the red-headed shinigami and made to attack again. Renji segmented his sword and swung at him horizontally. Yuri jumped above the attack and flash-stepped closer to Renji until he was at arm's length of him. However Renji had let go of his sword momentarily and jumped above Yuri who swung his sword underneath him. Renji grabbed his sword in midair and back flipped while swinging his sword for the second strike. Yuri Spun and parried that one while also getting pushed back a bit and forced on one knee. "Damn." Yuri cursed as Renji retracts his blade back to its original form.

"You got better it seems Yuri Lowell." Renji commended. "I'm surprised you can keep up with me like that."

"You sure do like to run your mouth." Yuri muttered as he rose back up to a fighting stance. "Let's see you talk after this!" This time he performed a series of flash-steps left and right to make Renji lose track of him. Yuri saw his opening and swooped in behind Renji and slashed horizontally. Renji caught on to his movements at the very end and stepped forward to evade, but Yuri was too quick for him and suffered a wound across his back. Renji leapt forward, spun around, and swung his sword as it segmented into pieces. Yuri parried the first attack coming his way and charged forward. The second attack came from Yuri's opposite side as Zabimaru coiled around like a snake. Yuri had to stop his advance and duck so the attack would pass him entirely. With that done, Yuri continued to charge again. The third attack began, but with the formation of the blade the way it was, it gyrated violently to the point where its attack pattern became unreadable. The blade's movement became erratic and Yuri knew he had to back off before he got hit by something he couldn't figure out. It was too late though as it lunged at him so quickly and cut really deep into his left shoulder.

"YURI!" Karol shouted with fear for his friend getting cut badly like that.

Yuri jumped back in time to avoid any more damage, but what he already obtained was extensive enough to keep him from lifting up his own sword. "Damn it, what was that?"

"Confused?" Renji spat. "When we get shipped to the world of the living, everyone that's lieutenant ranked and above has to have a special limiter so-"

"SO you don't cause negative influence in the area during your mission there. Once removed the strength of the shinigami becomes five times more powerful than before." Yuri shot back at Renji. "But," Yuri switched his sword to his other hand since his left arm is useless due to the deep cut. "Now that you're here, you're at full strength. That just means I don't have to worry about surprises coming from you."

"Why you!" Renji got cross. "That does it! Howl, Zabimaru!" Renji launched his sword forward once more.

"Prey beneath the predator's gaze!" Yuri's sword glowed its silver color and morphed into its shikai form. "Hauringu Tsuki!"

_A Shikai!_ Renji noticed the longer blade that came out along with the gauntlet. Renji got more violent with his attack and whiplashed his sword. Yuri dodged to the right and evaded Zabimaru. Yuri flash-stepped once more until he was next to Renji again, but this time Renji's blade was still extended, thus giving Yuri the clear opening he needed. Yuri was holding the sword with his gauntlet hand this time, so when he swung vertically from the floor, the force of the swing became heavier and slower. It didn't matter though since he made contact with Renji and shattered his Zanpakuto into pieces with that one blow while also dealing a deep blow across from the left hip to the right shoulder. It was deep enough to incapacitate Renji completely and make him fall to the ground.

"Damn." Yuri grunted as he fell on one knee, dropped his sword, and clutched his injured shoulder. The blood pouring out of it became too much and Yuri slowly began to lose consciousness. "I got to careless there. I should have been able to evade that attack." Yuri felt a scruffy hand on his other shoulder as he got lifted back up. Yuri looked to see Fedrock supporting him up.

"We should go retreat for now. The sun is setting and you need to get patched up." Fedrock said with a commanding voice.

"Seriously, you might as well mummify me with all this patching up I've been through." Yuri chuckled. He winced slightly to the pain of his shoulder and slumped a bit more.

"At least you still got your sense of humor." Fedrock grinned from behind his mask and ran over to Karol. He noticed the large amount of shinigami running there direction and dropped his grin. "Let's go kid, back to the hole we go!" Fedrock, with Yuri on his shoulder, ran back where they emerged and jumped back down to the underground network below the surface. After a few moments past, Izuru, Yeager, and several other low level shinigami appeared on the scene to discover Renji in his poor state.

"R-Renji!" Izuru stuttered back a couple steps in finding his friend badly hurt.

"So our lieutenant friend here managed to get himself trampled by the Ryoka it seems." Yeager noted as he walked away slowly. "Take care of the poor boy. I'm going to see if I can find the Ryoka."

"At least take some back up with you." Kira suggested.

"Nein, you need all their help to get our friend some medical attention. I'll be fine by myself." Yeager shot back with a more serious notation and ran off towards the direction Yuri disappeared off to. _I know where you are Yuri Lowell._

* * *

**A/N Well…that's that…man I got nothing much to say at the end…oh well. Just to help, I posted the translations of the ****underlined**** words below.**

**_Nein = no_**

**_Junge = young one_**

**_Nicht Veil = Not much_**


	23. Hunted

**A/N *Sigh* i finally manage to actually post a chapter up after so long. Sorry for teh long delay everyone, i had to deal with a few things before i could sit and type this up. If anyone remebers, i work with Draconichero19 with a few of his fics as a co-author so it's not like i've been neglecting my work. (Most of it is on his profile page) So check them out if you like my work. Regardless, heres to teh new chapter.**

* * *

**Third Person View**

Back in the tunnels below the surface the group escaped the pursuers and sat down to rest. Karol kept on guard with his hammer out while Fedrock, who is kneeling next to Yuri who is flat on the ground, treated Yuri's wound from his earlier fight with Renji. Yuri took the time to have a nap while Fedrock worked his magic. Surprisingly, Fedrock had a strong talent for mending wounds. The cut was deep though, it severed a large portion of the shoulder from the arm. Although for Fedrock he somehow managed to mend the bones back together, apply a special ointment to help seal the wound, and wrapped the area up tightly with bandages.

"There, all good for now." Fedrock said as he removed his mask to wipe the sweat from his forehead with his arm. He whips the cloth to remove any dust particles and such from it and wrapped it back on like a mask again. Karol took notice and ran up to Fedrock. "What's up Karol?"

"Is he alright? I mean that was one serious injury there." Karol asked worryingly.

"While patching him up, I noticed a number of scars around his torso, even some wounds only a hollow had given him." Fedrock said to Karol, although he didn't make eye contact with him. "What exactly has Yuri been doing all this time? I know he encountered Rukia and got into a mess, but he has receives some extensive damage to his body."

"It's…complicated." Karol muttered while pouting. Fedrock didn't hear the words, but he knew that whatever it was that it would surface some bad memories. Fedrock got up on his feet and patted the kid's shoulder. Karol immediately lifted his head up to look at Fedrock.

"Don't worry kid, he'll be just fine."

"Of course I will." Yuri said out loud, grabbing the two other's attention as he sat back up. He winces slightly and grabs hold of his injured shoulder thanks to the sharp pain that rushed through his body. "Well, maybe after a few more minutes."

"Yuri!" Karol shouted as he ran over to his friend's side.

"Well at list your attitude hasn't worn off." Fedrock smirked and walked up to him as well. "But you took a nasty blow to the shoulder." Fedrock reached to the pouch strapped to his back and pulled out a white object. "Don't know why you would have such an object, but it saved you from getting your arm diced off completely." Fedrock held it forward to Yuri, and his eyes widen at the sight. It was the mask that he was wearing when he got his powers back. The surface of the mask is white with a black four-prong star symbol starting at the bridge of the stone and extending outwards past the eyes at an angle.

"W-What?" Yuri became flabbergasted to what Fedrock showed him. "I had that on me?"

"Yeah, the thing was where you got hit." Fedrock pointed to the crack at the middle of the mask that extended down to the noses bridge. "The darn thing was stubborn enough to keep you from getting in a bad fix, although I still question why you have it."

"Same here." Yuri calmed down, snatched the mask away, looked at it for a few moments, and threw it into the water at the side. Fedrock gasped in shock from Yuri's action, but immediately calmed down. "I thought I got rid of that thing a while back. I'm surprised to see it actually one me."

"Well you shouldn't just throw it away like that Yuri." Karol interjected. "I would have kept it as a good luck charm, you know, for extra measure." Karol waved his finger in the air like h was giving a lecture.

"Yeah well when has our luck ever been good?" Yuri shot back with a sneer. "My luck has always been trash for all I know." The joke continues.

"Awe come on Yuri. It hasn't been all that bad." Karol argued trying to lift the idea of bad luck off of Yuri. Sadly for Karol, Yuri's gaze didn't exactly help in making the argument have benefit for him. "D-Don't look at me like that." Yuri got up on his feet after dropping his gaze and pats Karol's head.

"I'm just messing with ya." Yuri admitted and puts his hand down. He looks to the wall on his right and sees his sword placed down. He makes his way over there and reaches for it with it, but stops as his shoulder becomes more painful to move. "Damn." Yuri retracts his left arm and brings out his right to grab it instead. "I'm going to need to be a righty for now."

"Will that be a problem?" Fedrock inquired.

"Although I do prefer fighting with my left, I'm good enough with my right." Yuri explained as he flexes his left arm a bit more. "It's going to be a while before I can use this arm isn't it?"

"From the way I saw it; yeah. Give it around a day and you should be able to use it though. I managed to work some of my magic into fixing it up so it should be healed by then." Fedrock told Yuri. HE walked up to the wall and leaned against it to face Yuri. "Just don't push your luck."

"You're one to talk." Yuri shot back. Yuri's want to continue the conversation had just dropped like a stone in water as he felt an ominous presence approach them from above. Fedrock perceived Yuri's change in expression that he sensed someone nearby and stood back up with his hand on his sword's handle. "You felt it to?" Yuri whispered.

"Only because you did. I was too occupied with you that I forgot to sense my surroundings." Fedrock admitted for only Karol and Yuri to hear. "Although, I didn't expect to encounter anyone down here."

Karol ran in between Yuri and Fedrock while placing his hand inside his bag to grip his hammer. "Who is it?" Karol muttered.

"Dear me, I zeem to be found out." A voice all too familiar for Yuri and Karol echoed throughout the tunnel. Yuri froze in place along with Karol, both knowing who that unique voice belonged to. "I guess zis means zat I must make my appearance zen." With that proclamation known, a figure of a man garbed in a lieutenant's uniform descended from above and landed in front of the three Ryoka on one knee. "It has been a while," The shinigami rises up to his feet to stand straight up and face Yuri directly. "Yuri Lowell."

Yuri eyes widen in bewilderment at seeing Yeager in front of him, but they dropped almost immediately afterwards. Yuri knew that this place was the afterlife and that he may encounter some previous people. Although Yuri still felt uncomfortable now, not to mention threatened, mostly because his group had put him down during their fight at Zaude. Yeager's sharp stare only made things more uncomfortable for them though; as if he was enticing a fight. Karol took the first move and ran to stand in front of Yuri while taking a defensive stance. Yeager made no response to Karol's actions and simply he walked forward slowly.

"Oh, I didn't zhink you would be zo zurprised to zee me Yuri." Yeager said to him directly with his usual accent, ignoring Karol who was standing in front of him. "Oh, seems to me that I'm not welcome?"

"Lieutenant Yeager Von Kruse." Fedrock muttered softly to Yuri and Karol.

"Zat's right." Yeager overheard Fedrock's remark about him. "I'm the lieutenant of squad 13." Yeager noted to the group and brought his attention to Yuri once more. "Stand up Yuri Lowell. I wish to zee how ztrong you really are." Yeager brings his hand up to his left shoulder, grabbed his shihakusho, and ripped it off to reveal his standard uniform as the Leviathan claws' Boss.

Karol and Fedrock rushed forward in rejection of Yeager's command to Yuri. Yeager flash-steps to the right to get to the other side of the underground river, making it seem like he disappeared into the darkness since the lighting was so dimmed. "He can hide his spiritual pressure very well." Fedrock praised as he drew his blade. Karol and Fedrock stood back to back, ready for Yeager to make his strike.

"Hado 31, Shakkaho." Yeager's voice echoed from above and a blast of red energy was shot above Karol and Fedrock. Both of which were caught off guard and throw away from each other in opposite directions into the darkness; very far apparently. Yeager came down from above and landed where the two of them were once standing. The odd thing was that Yeager had not made to draw his Zanpakuto. "Oh dear, I zeem to have went a little too far with my attack." Yeager said as he stood up straight and casually reach for something strapped to his back. To everyone's surprise, Yeager seemed to have assembled his old weapon from when he was still the Boss of his guild, the infamous multi-weapon changing _scythe/rifle/crossbow_. Although he was rather relaxed, positioning his weapon to his left in order to block Yuri's attack from behind. "Good, good. You're going to need that fierce determination while you're here." Yeager pushed Yuri away with a swiping motion. However Yuri did not see the next attack coming and got forced into another deadlock. "Come now Yuri, you must have the strength to fight me if you came this far." Yeager pushes him away again, this time Yuri back flips to gain a little more distance to get more leeway for a counter attack. His left arm began to swell in pain again, making things harder for Yuri since he can't think straight.

Yuri lunges forward into Yeager regardless with his blade going for an impaling motion. Yeager transformed his weapon into a scythe and swung horizontally, since Yeager's weapon had the longer reach, Yuri was forced to duck and move away before getting hit. "Being a lieutenant here must be nice." Yuri commented as he jumped back. "Wonder what you've been up to on the other side of things."

"Oh zo zorry my boy. I'm afraid I can't reveal zuch details yet." Yeager said with a sly smile on his face. "Rather I zould be the one interrogating you." Yeager's weapon transformed into a crossbow with a twirling motion and Yeager proceeded to fire several shots at him. "My own zubordinate is now facing execution because she met you. I have nothing against you anymore Yuri, but I'm not really in a good mood either." Yuri dodged the barrage of attacks while blocking the last one. Yeager transformed his weapon back to a scythe and stood in a battle ready pose.

"What did I do to you to get you so mad?" Yuri questioned as he dashed forward with his blade scrapping across the ground. He swings up across Yeager's midsection, but Yeager dodged by jumping back.

Yeager swung his scythe horizontally and knocked Yuri away when he blocked. "I'm Lieutenant of 13th division. If you knew Rukia you should at least be able to put two and two together." Yeager volleyed back the question back at Yuri while leaping forward to push Yuri in another deadlock.

"Jeez, if you keep attacking me so much how will I be able to think straight?" Yuri snapped with a comical tone while pushing forward to try and overpower Yeager, but while in process of doing so something in Yuri's mind snapped to his attention and he broke away from their clash. "So you're Rukia's superior I take it."

"Ah, ze boy can zink." Yeager praised with a sarcastic tone. "Zo you know zat much now. Anything else?" Yeager asked as he strolled slowly to Yuri who was already tired out. Thanks to Yuri's previous fight being such a short time ago; he is still exhausted. All he could do now is listen to what Yeager has to say. "You come here to rescue Rukia from her fate, but all I zee are you making zings worse after I tried so hard to make zem better."

"Better?" Yuri questioned.

"I'm her lieutenant remember? It's my duty to look after my zubordinates." Yeager said now with a rather firm notation. "Let me ask you something though. Are you truly here to zave Rukia?"

"Why the hell are you asking me that after everything that I already did while I'm here?" Yuri questioned back while getting up from the ground sluggishly. "I owe her too much to just leave her to her fate like this, especially by the hands of Byakuya." Yuri continued on with his speech to Yeager. To Yuri's surprise, Yeager had put away his weapon and cocked a grin, which made Yuri raise an eye brow in question.

"Just what I wanted to hear." Yeager said while fixing his hair a bit from the fighting. "I'm glad you and I zee eye to eye about zings. I myself have been questioning much around zese parts. I assure you I am no enemy to you; rather I wish to help you in your mission to zave Rukia." Yuri sheaths his own sword now, feeling content with Yeager's words. "You trust me zo easily? I didn't think you were that negotiable."

"I trust you enough. I know at heart you're not much of a bad guy." Yuri said to Yeager while sitting back down with his back to the wall, feeling comfortable that Yeager won't pounce on him this time. "I wish you didn't jump me before I would have listened. I still need to recover after taking down Renji." Yeager did the same and sat down next to Yeager. "Rather odd how we both are calm now when we were initially trying to kill each other."

"I find it more odd zat you took my appearance zo easily. I zought you were going to try and hack away at me from the very beginning relentlessly." Yeager commented. Karol and Fedrok finally made their way back to them after getting knocked away so far. Both were greatly surprised when they found Yuri and Yeager trading words like good friends. "Zorry about being so rough, I had to know whether I can count on you or not." Yeager then turned to face Karol who still felt uneasy with Yeager. "You there, lad. You here for ze same reason Yuri is correct?"

"Y-Yes." Karol nervously replied back while jumping up and straightening himself out.

Yeager chuckles. "Good, but you will keep my involvement a secret if you get captured ja?" Yeager requested, placing his finger near his lip for a hushing notation. "Although I'm on your side, my position is too high for me to accompany you three."

"What exactly is your objective?" Fedrock questioned while crossing his arms. "You're a mystery to me."

"A lot more then what your objective is." Yeager said and got up on his feet while dusting off his clothes. "There is more going on here than just the execution. Although I don't know what exactly, I know it has something to do with Rukia."

"You mean someone is pulling some strings?" Yuri questioned knowing from experience what Yeager meant.

"Ja, I get zat zame feeling from ze time when sat demon of a man Alexei was ztill around." Yeager snickered a bit after his comment. "I'm glad that man is burning in the abyss right now." There was a moment of silence after that remark, mostly because no one wanted to mutter his name again. Yeager got off that subject with Alexei and back to the issue at hand.

"Yeah,I found out about you and that orphanage in Nor Harbor. I know now that the reason for all the bad you did was because of Alexei when he had you pinned." Yuri told the former leader of the "Leviathan's Claw". His grin dropped down to a frown, wondering on how Yuri came to find out about himself.

"I zee, zo you figured it out then?" Yeager questioned.

"Actually, it was thanks to Gauche and Droite that I found out about you." Yuri told Yeager calmly. "Well they kind of pointed us in that direction and the rest was some serious digging. Everything kind of fell onto our laps, although I can't tell you how many times they tried to kill me after you bit the dust."

"Oho, zo zey are doing well then?" Yeager questioned, rather glad Yuri mentioned his adoptive daughters. "You didn't hurt zem too bad did you?"

"Nah they're alright, although they miss you terribly enough." Yuri mentioned the two known as Gauche and Droite.

"Getting off the reminiscing, even though I'm glad this means I don't have to break my back this time for you Yuri, you said that there may be someone behind the scenes pulling the strings." Fedrock cut in. "I won't even ask about Alexei but can you at least give us some detail on what's going on?"

"Zadly, zis is all the time I have left. I must depart before my zubordinates get zuspicious of me." Yeager said as he turned away. "If I fail to keep the execution from happening, I pray you will rescue her in the end zomehow?"

"Yeah." Yuri nodded. Karol did the same.

"Good luck boy. You will need it" Yeager said as he proceeded to leave back up to the surface. "Try not to get into too much trouble. The Gotei will be swarming like locusts now." With the echo of his final words gone, everyone gave an off heavy exhale of breath while Karol fell backwards completely flat.

"I don't know how much more I can take this." Karol wheezed on the floor. "I'm tired. Shouldn't it be night time by now?"

"Yeah, now we can rest until morning. No use going now when we are all dead tired, especially you Yuri." Fedrock rationalized and sits against the wall with Yuri. "It should be around a good ten hours before we can go to the surface. That should give you enough time to let your arm sit and heal." Yuri nodded and shut his eyes to fall asleep rather quickly. Karol was way ahead of them though as he is already asleep. Fedrock stares at the water in front of him and watches the flow of it. "That was close, I almost got busted." Fedrock sighed and shut his eyes. "I hope you know what you are doing Yuri; things are just going to get tougher from here."

**The Next Morning**

Yuri, Fedrock, and Karol had exited the sewers and resurfaced near the stairs they were at before when Yuri confronted Renji. Yuri's arm wasn't completely healed, but it is good enough to use now. With a full tank of energy they begin to run up the stairs to the upper levels of the Seretei. Yuri still had a feeling of uneasiness after speaking with Yeager about Rukia, but it also brought him some peace as well. At least now he knows he has someone on the inside that is helping him. With someone like Yeager on his side for once, they could have a much easier time with everything. But what Yeager said about someone pulling strings from the shadows, it made Yuri uneasy about what is to come. When they got to the top step, they were suddenly surrounded by a crushing amount of spiritual pressure. The entire group was completely caught off guard by this sudden attack; they were struggling to stay on their feet. Yuri grits his teeth, trying not to succumb to the heaviness that's been thrown on him.

"This pressure!" Fedrock gasped as he looked around discreetly. "Could he be here?" he muttered after.

"Come on guys." Yuri said to the group with struggling effort and grunting. "We got to keep moving and get as far away from as possible from this guy. Whoever this guy is, he's bad news." With a nod from the group, they found the strength to run forward. Yuri ran in front, Karol and Fedrock side by side behind Yuri. After running for a while it didn't feel like they have brought any distance between them and the chaser. _Damn it, who the hell is after us!_

At the end of Yuri's thought, Karol fell over on his knees. "That's it, I can't run anymore." Karol said, wheezing like a dying animal. Fedrock ran up to him and threw him on his back. "W-Whoa! What are you-"

"Just stay quiet kid." Fedrock ran back up to catch up with Yuri. "We can't afford to get ourselves stuck here. We have to push on!" _Especially if he of all people is here._

* * *

**Kenpachi's Location**

_Now, which one is it?_ Kenpachi thought as he sat on the rooftops, his bells ringing to the wind. He watches the three Ryoka run across the open halls of the area below, noticing that each of them was having trouble with his exertion of spiritual pressure. He gets up and scans each one. _Not those two_. He referred to Fedrock and Karol. "Ah."

* * *

**Yuri's Location**

"Are you the one?" Yuri heard Kenpachi's voice near his ear and he stopped short to turn completely around and look up. The spiritual pressure was so immense that even with his eyes wide open he could only see the silhouette of Kenpachi in the distance. They stared at each other for a brief moment, in a deadlock of eyes. Fear had enveloped around as he continued to stare at him, feeling years pass when it was merely three seconds. "Hey, how long are you going to space out like that?" Kenpachi's voice came from directly behind Yuri, and it sounded close. Yuri had no time to react as he felt something claw its way into his heart. It felt like a blade, but it wasn't there at all.

_What just happened?_ Yuri questioned in his head as he stood completely still. _It felt like I got stabbed, I should be dead. But I don't see a wound or anything. _Yuri continued on with his over flowing thoughts until Kenpachi's voice broke him out of his trance.

"You're Yuri Lowell right?" Kenpachi asked the nervous Ryoka. Yuri turned slowly to look at him directly. "What are you so hectic about kid?"

"How is it that you know my name?" Yuri struggled to question him. "I never ran into you at all."

"Come on now," Kenpachi shot back. "I believe you know me from Ikkakku, so that should answer you question."

"Wait," Yuri said to himself in shock. "Then you're-"

Kenpachi chuckled a bit, knowing that Yuri figured it out. "I'm Captain of Squad 11, _Kenpachi Zaraki_!" Kenpachi introduced himself with a burst of spiritual pressure. "I'm here to fight you to the death."

* * *

**A/N Oh dang, Yuri is in hot water now. What's going to happen now that the two blades have crossed? The Wheel of Fate begins to turn, next chapter, expect some fighting to go on. BTW, I was asked to write out Yeager's form of speech in terms of his accent. I'll just put up a reference to his lettering so you understand a little. **

**(English) W = V (German) **

**(English) TH = Z (German)**

**(English) S = Z (German)**

**(English) V = F (German) **

**(English) ****Y = J (German)**

**Edit: Apparently i had Ganju in my head during typing and he somehow teleported into my chapter. Fixed though**


	24. Lost Hope

**A/N And now i managed to burn into a second chapter in less than 24 hours since my house has been so quiet. Hopefully it stays that way so i can burn more into this. Anyway, enjoy this new chapter to the series. **

* * *

**Third Person View**

"Did you not here me?" Kenpachi asked with impatience. "I said I'm here to fight you to the death." Yuri is still in shock for encountering the captain of squad 11. The first thing that ran in Yuri's min was running, but his feet felt like they've been nailed to the ground. The sudden strike of fear made him so cold that it felt like the world around him had stopped moving for a single instant. The flaring of Kenpachi's Reiatsu earlier didn't help for him either. "If you're not going to answer," Kenpachi grew a wide smile on his face. "Then do you think I can start off?" Yuri finally came into realization of the events and drew his sword out without a second wasted.

He turned his head slightly to look back at Fedrock and Karol. Karol was on the floor like he was a corpse and Fedrock fell on one knee. "H-Hey! Are you two alright!"

"Damn it Yuri! Don't turn you back on him!" Fedrock shouted with rage, which threw Yuri off key in his mind. "Don't worry about us; I just got the wind knocked out of me." Fedrock rose back on his feet, grabbed Karol, and threw him on his back. "This guy is no ordinary fighter even amongst the captains!" Fedrock was about to continue speaking, but he stopped after seeing a little girl with pink hair pop out from behind Kenpachi's shoulder.

"Look at that!" The girl shouted as she leapt up over to Yuri. She landed directly on top of his head with one foot and looked over to Karol. "You really scared the little guy till he fell unconscious. Poor guy." Yuri grabbed the girl by the back of her collar, held her up to his eye level, and stared at her. "Uh oh."

"Who are you supposed to be? A mascot? Cheerleader? If you are then 11th Division has some od tastes." Yuri snickered a bit at the young girl. This actually helped him a bit to ease the fear that had already been induced into him.

The little girl only smiled widely while replying with a giggly and bubbly voice. "I'm Yachiru Kusajishi. Lieutenant of 11th squad." The next few words were spoken with a cute wider smile. "Nice to meet you Wolfy."

"Wolfy?" Yuri questioned. Yachiru took the moment to free herself from Yuri's grasp and run over to Kenpachi.

"I seem to have made him mad." Yachiru pointed out; placing her finger on her chin as a gesture.

"Well what did you expect. You can't just jump on people's head and expect them not to be annoyed." Kenpachi rationalized with a grumbling tone.

_She's a lieutenant?_ Yuri thought to himself as he watches Yachiru and Kenpachi arguing. _As Judith would say, takes all kinds._ Yuri turned to face Fedrock who still held Karol up. "Go on ahead of me while you have the opening." Yuri whispered to them.

"Yuri, I know your strong and all, but this is sheer-"

"Suicide?" Yuri finished Fedrock's sentence for him. "I know, but I won't be stupid enough to get myself killed after all we went through." Yuri casted an assuring grin to Fedrock. "Don't worry about me; I'll handle things from here." Fedrock couldn't find the words to reply to Yuri's recklessness, but he decided to forget about arguing over it. With all times he knew of Yuri, they were always reckless days. But he always got out of them, which made Fedrock more assured that Yuri will be alright. Without another word, Fedrock snuck away while Kenpachi was still talking with Yachiru. "This time, for once, I am way over my head." Yuri clanged his sword on the ground to grab the two shinigami's attention. "Hey!"

"Eh?" Kenpachi's reaction was rather humorous as he chuckled. "Forgot about you for a sec. You going to fight me or what."

"Yeah, according to your friend Ikkakku I figured you only had an interest with me. You mind letting my buddies go?"

"Hah! Fine by me if it keeps you focused on me. I couldn't give two shits about you or that Kuchiki person going for execution." Kenpachi specified his position as of now. "I've been waiting here for you all this time just for a fight with you. Seeing what you did to Ikkakku really got my blood boiling."

The feeling Yuri had when he faced down Ikkakku rose back up and his cold gaze returned. His peering eyes were like ice as he stared into Kenpachi's with fierce determination. Yuri's reiatsu flared up high like a rocket. "Prey beneath the predator's gaze!" Yuri swung his blade to his left and called out its name. "HAURINGU TSUKI!" With shikai released, and a fierce look, Yuri took a battle stance and was ready for combat.

"Those eyes?" Kenpachi finally took notice to Yuri's change in demeanor. "Ikkakku saw those same eyes when he faced you. I'm getting excited just looking at you. You even had a change of character; did I say something that ticked you off?" Kenpachi smiled, feeling impressed with the foe in front of him. "I can say this, any lieutenant that would come across you would be ground meat if you gave off that murderous aura."

"Are you going to talk me to death, or are you going to draw your sword?" Yuri said in a dark tone, the same he had when he confronted Ragou over a year ago.

Kenpachi laughed once more. "I don't think I even need to give you a handicap! The strength I can sense in you is good enough most likely to deal a few blows." Kenpachi drew his blade out. To Yuri's surprise, it was dull with the blade chipping away. "Let's see if you can take the rust off this sword." Kenpachi flared his reiatsu to prepare for a battle. "You ready?"

"You better be, because I won't let up on you even if I start quaking in my boots." Yuri sneered as he flared his own reiatsu to help level the field and keep the pressure off. "I'm going to take you down no matter what i have to do."

Kenpachi starts laughing hoarsely from Yuri's declaration. "EXCELENT! THIS WILL TRULY BE FUFILLING!" Yachiru immediately retreated from the area, knowing that Kenpachi was about to go axe crazy. Kenpachi lunged first like a hungry beast, but Yuri ducked to the left from Kenpachi's overhead swing.

_There!_ With the opening given for Yuri to strike, he made to attack with an impaling motion to Kenpachi's chest. But when the blade made contact, it merely clanged against it like metal and bounced away. Yuri jumped back in shock and eyes wide open in the same emotion. His morale at this point was shot as he discovered that dealing a blow to Kenpachi was almost unthinkable.

"What is it boy?" Kenpachi asked noticing that Yuri had stopped moving completely. "Do you want to know why that attack didn't work?" Kenpachi tilted his head a couple times to loosen the joints a bit with a crack. "It's simple, my spiritually power dominated over you weaker one when we butted heads. SO of course you couldn't cut through me." Yuri merely sighed to Kenpachi's explanation. "What don't believe me?"

"It's not that I don't believe you," Yuri flash-stepped to Kenpachi's right side and swung vertically across Kenpachi's arm; this time he managed to get a cut on him. Kenpachi didn't move though and merely watch the blood dripped from his wound. Although it isn't deep, it is still a cut. Yuri jumped back away to clear some distance. "It's a fact that I merely forgot about. All the training I did to get here had two objectives." Yuri held up his pointer finger. "The first was to expand my capabilities as a shinigami by playing by your rules." Yuri flipped his second finger. "And the second was to expand on my Reiatsu level." Yuri put his hand down. "Now that I had my review. It's time to get this fight done with."

"Heh, cocky bastard aren't you?" Kenpachi grinned, feeling excitement boiling within him. "You actually managed to injure me boy!" Kenpachi begins to flare his reiatsu like a volcano just erupted. "You better keep that up or else you're going to bore me!"

_This isn't good._ Yuri thought to himself as he flared his own reiatsu to counter Kenpachi's, although Kenpachi is still overwhelming. _Even though I managed to cut him, once I hit his muscle layer it starts to feel like I'm cutting a brick with a plastic knife._ _I got to figure something out soon or else I'm going to be flattened._ Yuri took his stance once more and stood firm against him. "If you enjoy that just now, you're going to love the rest of this fight."

* * *

**Flynn's Location**

A large explosion is caused in front of 8th squad's barracks which destroyed the wall that was set in place. Flynn walked past the wreckage casually and stopped once he got a clear view of his surroundings. The inner area of 8th squad was rather wide and at least a mile of clearance was seen without walls. "I should be on the right track now." Flynn muttered to himself as he continued down the path of destruction he caused. He stopped though once another shinigami appeared in front of him. "Another one?" Flynn face palmed. "Who are you then?"

"Don't get cocky kid!" The large shinigami shouted. He had bushy eyebrows with braided hair. The left side of his chest was left bare with the tattoo of three Tomoe on his exposed shoulder. "I am 3rd officer of 8th division, Tatsufusa Enjoji." Flynn only stares for a few minutes and shakes his head. "What is it boy, do you wish to-"

"I don't have time for this." Flynn said plainly as he swung his sword that was already charged with his energy and launched a blast at him. Enjoji immediately took his blade out to guard from the attack, but was overwhelmed as he got sent flying across the sky and someplace unknown. Flynn sheathed his sword and looked around him to see if anyone else was going to interrupt him. "I'm just going to keep going and pretend that never happened." Flynn looked to his right and saw the tower of Pentenance; it is so much closer than before, signifying his tenacity of not slowing down. The only thing that stood between him and his destination is a golden roofed gate that looked somewhat like a shrine. "Guess it's time for me to pick up the pace. I can already feel Yuri way ahead of me." Flynn ran forward to his destination, but when he reached the gate. He heard a voice call out to him.

"Not bad boy." The voice called out to him as Flynn stopped abruptly to look around. He didn't want to want any more time than what was already lost. What caught his attention were the red petals that slowly descend from above. Flynn looked up to see the origin of the flowers and instead he saw a man descending from above wrapped in a cloak with a flower design and a straw hat. The individual revealed himself as he stood up to be a tatty looking male in his mid-forties. The scruffiness was due to the lack of shaving his fuzzy goatee and long hair put into a pony tail rather loosely. "8th squad captain, Shunsui Kyoraku. Pleased to meet you."

"A captain you say?" Flynn questioned while placing his hand near his chin.

"Yup, how you doin?" Shunsui asked with a friendly gesture. There was an odd pause between the two of them, but Shunsui seemed to be a little uneasy about something. "Nanao-chan." Shunsui looked up to see the one he called Nanao still dropping petals from above him. "That's enough now." Nanao ignored her captain and proceeded to drop more and more petals down to the ground. "I guess she didn't-"

A large boom is heard in front of Shunsui. When he drops to see what happened, he sees Flynn's right arm spewing energy out like it was overflowing. This left the sleeve that concealed his arm blown apart. "I'm sorry, but I don't have the time to deal with your antics. Asking you to kindly step aside won't to any benefit since it's your duty to stop me is it now?"

Shunsui looked at the youthful commandant and smiled. "That it is. I was hoping to ask you kindly to leave, but you seem to be set straight on getting past here." Shunsui reach for inside his flower cloak and pulled out two sabers, one shorter than the other. "I wish you had given up here, or at least stayed for a drink, but duty calls as always."

"Don't take me lightly." Flynn said as he charged energy to coil around his entire arm. Once then he drew his sword out slowly while the energy surrounds the blade. With a single swish, the area around Flynn for a good five meters has crumbled besides where he stood. "This power is strong, but unstable. I can't control it properly once I get serious."

"Is that so?" Shunsui asked as he lowered his head so his eyes wouldn't be visible to Flynn. "I'll be careful on that note then." Shunsui made the first move and flash-stepped next to Flynn on the right to stab his waistline. Flynn lifted his blade so he would block the attack, but he was suddenly caught up by the force of the attack and shifter a few inches away from Shunsui.

_That was careless. He's a captain, so of course he would be strong. He hasn't even released his shikai and I'm already having trouble keeping a foothold. I should thank Kisuke for training me against Shun-po experts._ Flynn jumped back and swung his sword horizontally to launch a blade of light at Shunsui. He guarded with both his swords in an x-formation and stood his ground. _I have to improvise against this guy. Straightforward attacks are useless it seems. _Flynn ran forward, only for Shunsui to appear behind him. But Flynn saw this coming, spun 180 while letting his sword go, and attack with a karate chop motion with his powered up arm. Shunsui had to flash-step away this time to avoid a direct hit. Flynn spun once more to grab his blade and resume his stance. "Almost had you."

"Yes you most certainly did. You are obviously trained in more than just sword play. But are you still sure you want to continue this?" Shunsui asked once more.

Flynn shook his head with a slight smile. "Sadly, I must decline. I came here with Yuri to save Rukia and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I owe both of them too much to just retreat for the sake of my own life." Flynn charged more energy into his arm then usual while sheathing his sword. "You better stop holding back now, what I'm about to do is strictly between us. I can't control this as much as my last ability; hence the reason it was deemed forbidden."

"Forbidden?" Shunsui was perplexed by what Flynn just meant. Nevertheless, he stood in suspect that something intense was about to happen. What he saw is rather intriguing, the energy flowing out of Flynn's arm had begun to fluctuate violently, and somehow it started to take shape of something instead of being formless. The energy formed a a weapon fthat took the shape of a tear drop, the pointy end of it pointing down. Two spikes protruded from the bulbous side of it at a 45 degree angle from the center. However, this power is unstable and instead of keeping a solid figure, the energy still exudes. "This energy…"

"This is my strongest weapon, although I still don't have a name for it. You do well to guard it if it's unavoidable." Flynn said as he lunged forward. Shunsui was about to counter, but with this new power Flynn began to use, he vanished and reappeared above Shunsui with his bladed energy ready to be swung at him. Shunsui jumped back to avoid the attack that is about to come slamming down. When Flynn made impact to the ground, the energy erupted violently all around and Shunsui got caught in the explosion of Flynn's reiatsu.

* * *

**Nanao's location**

"T-Taicho!" Nanao called out from afar on top of the wall to see a pillar of Flynn's reiatsu surge into the sky.

"Something wrong Fukataicho?" A voice is heard from behind Nanao. She turned to face the individual who called out to her. She saw a man with a black face mask and a standard shinigami uniform. His brown hair drops down in long uneven bangs that cover the left side of his mask. "I heard the Ryoka are present in this area."

"What are you doing here? You should be hunting the other Ryoka in the other areas." Nanao told the stray shinigami. "You may be in our division, but you should be helping the others. Our captain has this one."

"And that's what I'm afraid of." The shinigami said as he leaped up the Nanao's left side and see's the battle unfold. "I guess you can say that I have an interest to this Ryoka."

"You know this Ryoka?" Nano inquired. "How so?"

"A long story. Maybe I'll share in a bit if I have my opening to confront the young knight." The Shinigami replied as he continued to watch the fight.

* * *

**Flynn's Position**

The battle started to become heated. Both sides traded blows like a relentless blizzard. Even Shunsui was having trouble with Flynn now with his upgrade in strength and speed. Flynn could now keep up with Shun-po users and pursue them. This gave Shunsui a very hard time in trying to actually hit Flynn. In the end, Shunsui ended up getting serious enough to warrant the spill of blood. Which he regrettably delivers by slicing across Flynn's other arm when he got the chance with a slicing scissor motion with his two blades.

"You're dangerous. My entire division will be in shambles if this continues." Shunsui said to the Commandant as he back stepped away to make some distance between the two. "You were right about one thing though, I shouldn't have thought so little of your skill. You're obviously not a normal man. A soldier perhaps?" Flynn didn't respond and instead delivered a straight punching motion with the bladed energy to attempt stab Shunsui through his chest. Shunsui flash-stepped to the right to dodge and ran forward while delivering a flurry of stabbing motions with both hands. Flynn jumped to the right and evaded the flurry of attacks while spinning a full 360 to shoot a wave of energy at Shunsui. The latter guarded from the attack and flash-stepped to the left of Flynn to swing horizontally on his defenslsee side. Flynn couldn't move from where he is, so he instead unsheathed his sword with his left hand to parry away Shunsui. Once they made some distnace between each other, Flynn sheathed his sword. "That was close." Flynn muttered.

_I'm going to have to end this in the next few moves. Otherwise i will have to use my Zanpakuto to subdue him. _Shunsui proclaimed in his thoughts as he dashed forward this time as they initiative. Flynn jumped up and focused the energy in his weapon. But when he is about to attack, the energy fluctuated into instability, causing Flynn to lose control. "You're open." Shunsui lunged down while Flynn was still in midair and made a direct hit with his blades, leaving an x-shaped wound on Flynn's chest as Shunsui lands on the ground graciously. "I'm sorry it had to end this way. If this fight had continued, i ruly would have been forced to put you down for good." Flynn fell on his back with a thud. The energy in his right arm had dispersed, and reverted to normal. The wound was deep, almost fatal to him with blood trickling from his mouth. But Flynn was still conscious and attempted to get up. "Stop it. Now you're just being foolish. If you move around too much you really will die."

"I…can't lose like this." Flynn said, trying to get the words out of his mouth. "Yuri is still out there, we agreed that soul society would not condemn Rukia after all the good she had done." Flynn rolled over until he is laying on his stomach. "I have to win, no matter the cost."

"Stop this Flynn." The shinigami from earlier appeared to Flynn's side and stood over him.

"T-That voice…" Flynn recognized the voice from his side and looked up to see the masked man standing above him. "You're…"

"Damuron Atomais, 6th seat of 8th division." The shinigami removed his mask and threw it to the ground. "But you know me by another name."

"Ra…ven…?" Flynn had lost all the strength and he fell limp on the ground. "Either this is a bad joke or I'm hallucinating. Although I am in Soul Society, so this was to be expected. I just never thought we would meet like this." Flynn slowly began to slip into unconsciousness as his eyes slowly closed. "I wonder how Yuri will take the news of you bieng here...Raven." With those words. Flynn had blacked out.

"Damuron?" Nanao appeared in the area behind Raven who stood still for a few moments looking down at Flynn. "So you do know him."

"Taicho." Raven turned to face Shunsui. "I will explain my connections with this man to you another time. Right now I would like to request that this man be tended to, although I know you never intentioned to try and take his life in the first place."

"True, I will have this man sent to the 4th division care wards immediately."

"W-Wait a minute Taicho." Nanao interjected. "There's news from the CFC."

"Oh yeah." Raven spoke out. "You need to hear this first."

"It has come to our attention," Nanao took a moment to pause and take in what she was about to say. "That Captain Aizen of 5th division has passed away." Shunsui's reaction was only his eyes widening in shock from the news given to him. "The cause of death was the removal of his soul-link and soul-sleep as well as cardiac destruction through the use of a soul slayer."

"Basically, murder." Raven summarized for Nanao as bluntly as possible. "Sadly, the killer is yet to be determined. It's class 1 priority signed by Head Captain Yamamoto and Hitsugaya-Taicho. With that known, there is no possibility of there being any mistakes on this report."

"Which is why i disapprove the request to send this man to the care ward. We should simply finish him." Nanao stepped forward. "This Ryoka may be associated with the murderer."

"More of a reason why we should let him live, so we can know for sure." Raven argued for Flynn's sake. "No disrespect." The two grew silent from Raven's interjection. Both Nanao and Shunsui knew he had a personal vendetta with the Ryoka in front of them, but neither would think he would step so far out of bounds for his sake.

Shunsui sighed to disturb the silence and said. "Take this man to the care ward, have him treated, and place him in a cell until further notice."

"Thank you Taicho. Forgive me for any disrespect I have caused. If you'll excuse me I will take him personally." Raven said as he lifted Flynn onto his shoulders and took off to the 4th division barracks. "You have gotten stronger, but there are things that you still know nothing about. If you haven't rushed in here maybe you would have seen the bigger picture,"

* * *

**Yuri's Location**

Yuri and Kenpachi were caught in another deadlock as they clash. Suddenly, a distracting feeling surged into Yuri, which gave Kenpachi the chance to knock him away by breaking the deadlock and forcing Yuri to the wall. Yuri slumped down to the ground and onto his knees; realizing that Flynn's Reiatsu had suddenly disappeared altogether. _He lost? How!_ Yuri shouted in his head as he got back up on his feet. _Damn idiot, if you get yourself killed I will personally kick your ass when you respawn here._

"What's the matter?" Kenpachi questioned the sudden stopping f Yuri's pursuit. "You getting distracted now of all times. I'm just warming up." Yuri shook his head violently and snapped back into attention.

_No, he'll live. He won't die so easily._ Yuri told himself as he charged forward. _Right now, I have this man to face down. I can't fall now. I can't be distracted. _Yuri's reiatsu surged again as he made to strike another blow to Kenpachi by swinging downward from above. Kenpachi held up his sword to block, but Yuri used whatever momentum was left and flipped forward to get behind Kenpachi. As he landed, Yuri twirled to face Kenpachi's back, and swung across. This time he managed to cut through his shihakusho's symbol of squad 11 while leaving a decent cut. However the blow wasn't truly enough to stop the ferociousness of Kenpachi as he swung around and grabbed Yuri's blade and threw him in the air. Yuri flipped in midair and threw himself down to where Kenpachi is standing with his gauntlet hand extended.

"Not bad." Kenpachi praised as he swung his sword to parry the armored fist away, but that's what Yuri wanted as he now had enough force in his spin to slash across Kenpachi's torso. This time the wound managed to spill blood. But when Yuri landed, he jumped away from Kenpachi to grab a breather. "What is it? You tired already?" Yuri reflexively grabbed his left shoulder that was injured during his fight with Renji. "I see, you still hurtin from before huh? Suck it up and concentrate on me, not the pain."

"Just one question though." Yuri wanted to ask this out of sheer curiosity. "Why don't you call out your swords name? I can already do some damage to you but if you-"

"My Zanpakuto don't have a name." Kenpachi said plainly "I can't put it in sealed form, so this is just how it is." Kenpachi held his sword in front of him. "This is my Zanpakuto's true form."

"So you say." Yuri got up and rushed forward at Kenpachi once more, only this time he used flash-step to get behind him. But this led to no avail as Kenpachi spun around and stabbed forward at Yuri. Since Yuri is moving too fast forward. He was forced to hold up his gauntlet arm to block. When he did, Yuri got forced to the wall with a crater forming behind him. "Damn."

"Don't get your hopes up boy. You're starting to soften up." Kenpachi began his lecture on his Zanpakuto. "If I didn't hold back at this point, all my enemies would die way too quickly-" While Kenpachi was finishing his statement; his blade had already pierced through Yuri's gauntlet, though his arm, and into his chest as he got pinned to the wall. "Are you serious boy? You got careless." Kenpachi then withdrew his blade from Yuri's body and allowed him to fall to the ground as his gauntlet shattered to pieces along the ground. Due to the stress of the fight, Yuri's sword had already begun to crack before. Now that it fell to the ground, it also fell to pieces. "I told you not to let up even for a second. That mistake cost you your life." With a sigh, Kenpachi began to walk away. "Oh well, I actually had a good fight regardless. Although I wished you held on and not get careless, I'm still satisfied."

_I lost?_ Yuri thought in his head as he stayed perfectly still on the ground, only able to look at Kenpachi's back as he walks away. _How could I lose like this?_ Yuri tried to muster up his strength to move, although weak, he managed to get his arm moving again. _I can't let myself fall now. Everyone is still out there fighting! No, I haven't lost yet!_ Yuri managed to raise his body up a bit with his left hand, but the injury on his shoulder surged pain into his body once more and made him fall into his own pool of blood. _Damn! GET UP!_

Suddenly, the whole world seemed to have frozen over as Kenpachi seemed to stop moving entirely and the color began to fade. The next thing that was seen is Hauringu Tsuki walking over to Yuri past Kenpachi with her billowing tails moving about. When she got close enough, the tails grew, and wrapped Yuri completely until he was out of sight.

* * *

**A/N Well, we all know what this means. Till next time in Crossing Moons 25**


	25. Beasts Collide

**A/N OK THEN! That was really fun to do. I'm glad I got to get this now then to wait. I know you guys were anxious to see this so have fun going nuts at it. The end, is worth the wait.**

* * *

**Third Person View**

Yuri is laid on his back on the sandbar of his inner world, the one that stays centered in the moon's reflection. With a couple of moans, he slowly awakens to the soothing sound of rustling leaves from the branches above. He gets up on his feet and looks around. When he turns to look behind him, he sees Hauringu Tsuki, also referred to as Luna, sitting on the water up with her tails lying around the water's surface. She herself stood back on her four legs and progressed towards Yuri.

"You have awakened." Luna said. "Good, time is short we got things to take care of."

"But wasn't I just fighting Kenpachi?" Yuri questioned. He places his hand on his chest, the same place where he got impaled. "I mean, how can I be in my inner world in the middle of battle like that."

"The battle is not over yet, although you have already been tested by Kenpachi for your carelessness." Luna told Yuri as she strolled to the side of Yuri, her tails billowed around her until she became covered in her own fur. When they disbanded, Luna reappeared as a mid-twenty year old woman with curcy physical features. She wore white pelt leggings with beast like feet for shoes, her vambraces, fauld, and breastplate of the same description. Her stomach and upper arms/legs were exposed along with some slight cleavage with everything above that exposed as well to the neckline. Her sheen white hair is tied in a twist at the back of her head with the front of her hair parting to the right, covering her right eye. She still kept her billowing, trademark, tails and eye color.

"Wow, give you a pair of wings and you can pass off as an angel." Yuri whistled while crossing his arms as he scans his companion. Kind of glad you can't manifest in the real world just yet, I know a couple of friends who would get jealous.

"Flattering." Luna said as she strolled past Yuri and stared into the darkness created by the tree's shadows inside the forest. "You may have gotten stronger in the past; but you haven't manifested what you are truly capable of."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Yuri replied with a slightly irked tone. To him, it was kind of insulting since he has been fighting so hard all this time. To say that hasn't even used his full strength without knowing is kind of disheartening to hear. Luna threw a sword to the ground in front of Yuri; it is a plain katana, no unique notable features to describe. Yuri picked it up and scanned it; he still hasn't found any notable features on it. "And this would be?"

"Your sword." Luna replied plainly while walking on top of the water and stopping before getting to the shore.

"Hold up a second, this can't be my sword." Yuri deducted. He swung it a few times to get a feel for it though, just to see if he could be mistaken somehow. However his statement is sound, it isn't the sword he used against Kenpachi. Nor does it seem he can release it. "Where is…well…you?"

"Right here." Luna turned around to face Yuri again and held her hand above the water with the palm facing down. Yuri's shikai weapon emerged from the water and Luna grabbed hold of its hilt. She pointed the blade at Yuri. "I'm sorry, but you don't seem to be truly ready to actually wield me. After all," She threw the weapon up into the air with a twirl. "You broke me." Yuri only watched for a moment, confused about what is happening, only to be caught off guard as the sword got seized by another individual in the area. Sadly, it moved to fast to see clearly, but Yuri tracked his movements back into the dark forest. Yuri couldn't see him anymore, but he can still feel his presence. Luna jumped up onto one of the branches high amongst the trees to watch the scene that is about to unfold below.

"Who are you?" Yuri asked in all directions, hoping that the individual he sensed would come out and answer. Yuri held his sword tighter in his left hand, feeling threatened that there is someone else here that he thinks isn't supposed to. Yuri then swung to his left horizontally and parried away an oncoming attack. The one who attacked moved too fast for Yuri to see clearly and disappeared back into the shadows. "Like a predator stalks his prey huh?" Yuri sneered.

"Indeed." A deep, stoic, dark voice replied back. Yuri raised his eyebrow to who exactly might be here. He got his answer as the individual walked out of the shadows willingly to introduce himself. Yuri widened with awestruck eyes, seeing something that he considered unfathomably impossible. He had the same physical appearance of Yuri, only that he is garbed in white clothing. His skin is also completely white, with his eyes black and a piercing yellow iris. He also is holding the sword in his right hand as opposed to his Yuri along with the gauntlet being on his left hand. "Yuri Lowell, although I should say I'm glad to actually meet you in person; I can't say I'm pleased."

"I'll ask again," Yuri got defensive and swung his sword at the side, ready for a fight. "Who are you?"

He points to Yuri with his sword. "I am you," Then points to Luna. "And I am a part of her." He swung his sword across back down. "But mostly importantly," he disappears from in front of Yuri and reappears inches away from where Yuri is standing. "I am me." To Yuri's surprise, he felt a blow from the gauntlet he used against Kenpachi hit his stomach and flung him back into the dark forest. Yuri rolled several times before being able to roll back on his feet. He stood firm and looked around him, it's too dark to see anything ahead of him. This proves to be disadvantageous to Yuri since he can't see his opponent anyway.

"Guess I'm going to rely on something else to find him." Yuri whispered and shut his eyes. Right now Yuri is focusing in tracking the spiritual power of his supposed double. His eyes popped open when he discovered something, he can't track him. He knows for a fact that he's here trying to get him, but it feels like he trying to find a ghost with nothing but the sense of touch. _Why can't I feel his presence?_

"You're open." The doppelganger's voice is heard again to Yuri's left. Yuri immediately reacted to his appearance and jumped back to avoid the stabbing lunge from his right. Yuri's doppelganger pivoted his foot once he landed in front of Yuri and punched him directly in his stomach again with his gauntlet hand, but instead of Yuri getting blown back again, the gauntlet segmented into different pieces and surrounded his arm until it looked like a beast's arm which hooked onto Yuri via claws. "No escape." The doppelganger swung his sword down cut Yuri from the elbow down, but thankfully Yuri managed to pull away since the claws only grabbed hold of his clothing and not the flesh.

_That was close._ Yuri thought to himself as he closed some distance between him and his double; not wanting to lose sight of him. _When can my shikai pull something like that off?_ Yuri noted at the gauntlet's transformation. _Am I really so dense enough to not know how to use Luna properly?_

"Yuri, you must know that it's not in your inability to understand me that is causing you to seem weak. It takes time to know your Zanpakuto spirit." Luna muttered to herself as she continues to watch the fight ensue from below. Being a wolf hybrid gives her higher senses so she can see both of them clearly. "Unlike most shinigami who find out their Zanpakuto's names and blindly use them, you actually took time to get to know me during your time of training with Kisuke." Yuri parries another few blows, but another one came from behind unexpectedly as Yuri's double disappears and reappears so quickly, leaving a large gash in his back. Luna sighed in disappointment in the occurrence of attacks that were made. "You were so fixated on getting to know me that you forgot something important about yourself."

Yuri ran forward to charge at his double with flash-step and horizontally attacked across his double's waist, but he jumped away to the branches above to evade. Yuri stopped and fell on one knee, feeling that his battle is right now becoming hopeless. Every attack he makes is always evaded, but when his double attacks it's almost a guarantee hit. Yuri punched the ground with a fit and growled.

_What's wrong with me?_ Yuri shouted in his head. _After all I trained for with Kisuke, after all the hardships I had to endure to get this far. Why can't I win!_ Yuri got back up and looked around him to see that the area is now completely quiet. He couldn't tell if his double is either stalking him again or just left to taunt him into pursuit. Yuri lifted his sword in front of him and looked at it with a depressing gaze. Something inside felt empty for Yuri as he continued his fight. Before, he used to enjoy being able to fight no matter what the circumstances were. Now he not only feels unfulfilled, but he feels weaker too. However, it is not for the reason of having an illegitimate weapon against the enemy he faced, but rather what he allowed himself to become. _What am I doing?_

Yuri threw down his sword onto the dirt in front of him, turned around, and walked back to the water. He stepped out and made his way to the sandbar. At that time, his double reappeared near the shore line. "Have you given up?" he asks.

"No." Yuri said with a straight face, Yuri takes a firm battle stance with his dukes up against his double. His double's only reaction was his eyebrow getting raised. "What are you waiting for? Make your move."

"You would fight me without your weapon?" The double asked. "Have you gone mad?"

"No, I just merely realized something." Yuri replied and flash-stepped to his double's right. He gave a straight punch with his left hand to his double's face, only for his double to reach out with his beast armored hand, and grab onto Yuri's hand to prevent further advancement. This is what Yuri had hoped for as he took what was left of the forward momentum and forced himself to push his double back to knock him off balance. With the opening he has, Yuri pulled his double towards him during the confusion and gave a right uppercut to his double's chin. "I relied too much on everyone's power."

Yuri took his chance to continue with a follow-up attack while his double is still staggering and connected to his right hand for no escape. Yuri pulled his right hand back again and shouted, "BRUTAL FANG!" Yuri landed a series of punches all over his double's body like he was a punching bag. So many came at the double to the point where he couldn't retaliate, he was quite literally at Yuri's mercy now.

Yuri stopped his flurry of punches and pulled his left hand, that was still hooked to his double's gauntlet, back to drag his double towards him. Yuri placed his right hand on his double's side and flips him up to the air, causing him to separate from Yuri entirely. Yuri winces a bit to the pain of getting his left hand shredded up a bit from the removal, but he brushed it aside to continue his fight. As he begins to fall towards the water, Yuri jumped up and performs a lariat kick to his double's head and sends him to a crash course towards the sandbar.

Yuri did not stop there though; he didn't want his opponent to recover, knowing that it could cost him not being able to gain the advantage again. All Yuri knew in his mind is one thing, he wiped out his thoughts at training, his knowledge on sprirtual techniques and so on. The only thing he kept in his mind is to _keep on hitting_.

"This is it!" Yuri jumped up with his right hand pulled back, since his left hand is already bloodied up. As he falls towards his double's location, Yuri pumped his fist once and put everything he had into this last attack. He fell fully and tackled his fist directly onto his double's chest as the sand kicked up to blind him.

When the sand cleared and Yuri's vision cleared, he saw his opponent on the floor, defeated. When Yuri got up though, he noticed that his shikai is now back in his hands. Luna descended from above and stood behind Yuri while placing her hand on his shoulder. Yuri turned his head slightly to make eye contact with her; she smiled to him with soft eyes.

"I see why you wanted to put me through this." Yuri began to summarize the situation. He stabs his blade down to the ground and let it stay there as he stood over his double's body. "I had forgotten my roots as a fighter. By doing this, you allowed me to be me again." Luna nodded to him in confirmation. "I realized, that I allowed myself to become fixated on the power you had given me, and never my own anymore. Now I can see how much of a fool I was in doubting my own power." Yuri scratched the back of his head nervously and chuckled along with Luna. "Can I also assume that you are giving me a second chance?"

"Yes. I am satisfied that you are now back to being more like yourself. Although not completely, you still have that strong will inside of you to overcome everything no matter how hard." Luna said to him with her hands behind her back. She looks up to the moon above the sky; it now is a half-moon instead of a crescent moon. "I hope to see you back to normal one day."

"What was that?" Yuri didn't catch what Luna had said.

"It's nothing." Luna hand waved they topic and looked back at Yuri with a serious gaze. "You must go now; there is a fight that you must win."

Yuri lifted his sword out of the sand, gave a thumb up, and smiled. "I'll win, don't you worry."

* * *

**Kenpachi's Location**

Time continued to flow again suddenly and Kenpachi continued to walk away, still feeling a bit satisfied with Yuri's fight. He wished it could have been longer, but at least he got a chuckle out of it. Unknowing to him until he felt the surge of spiritual pressure, he got his wish. He turned to see Yuri stand up on his feet again while his reiatsu created an aura of incredible power around Yuri. His shikai even recovered completely as well back to its original state. His Reiatsu suddenly sky-rocketed now, his pulse is back to full beating too.

* * *

**Yuri's Inner World**

"Looks like he really let loose on you." Luna said as she approached Yuri's double that is still lying on the ground. He's fully conscious now, but he felt like staying down.

"The boy has potential. But he still is a bit tactless." The double said not moving from his location. "Or maybe you like him that way?"

"I suppose you can say that." Luna sighed and snapped her fingers. Yuri's double slowly began to faced away into white dust and flow back to her tails.

"Just make sure he doesn't get himself killed. I'm not going to just allow opportunity to disappear out of both of your carelessness." Yuri's double said before he fully vanished. The words hung a bit in Luna's thoughts, but she brushed them aside as she looked up to the sky to see the moon again. Once more, it was once a crescent, but now a half moon. Luna smiled again at the sight, closed her eyes, and embraced the light emitting from it.

_Yuri. When you are troubled, or not yourself, the moon begins to wane._ Luna noted in her head. _I hope that I can see the full moon someday; when your heart no longer is tattered._

* * *

**Kenpachi's Location**

"What is this?" Kenpachi asked himself feeling astonished to see his opponent standing. "His bleeding has even stopped completely." Kenpachi noticed that the stab wound Yuri had before is still there, but now bleeding out anymore. He then scanned Yuri's eyes; they weren't full of dark ambition to kill anymore. Rather, it was just for the sheer want to conquer.

The aura dissipated. "Ghost wolf." Yuri said calmly. Before Kenpachi could even lift up his sword, Yuri had disappeared from in the front and slashed at Kenpachi from the back, cutting deep. "Lone Wolf Storm." Yuri slammed his fist down to the ground and a wolf head appeared in front of him to blow Kenpachi away.

Kenpachi landed on his feet and spun to face Yuri head on. Yuri ran forward and jumped up to slam his sword down from above. "Azure Blast!" Kenpachi braced for impact, but the force of the attack pushed him down into a large crater formed by the attack after Yuri connected his blow. Yuri landed on his feet and charged forward. "Wolf Strike!" Yuri slashed once, and then punched Kenpachi away with his gauntlet hand that he just figured out to transform.

Kenpachi stabbed his sword into the wall to create a brake so he wouldn't get flown back so far and not fall over. "Get yourself ready to eat that dirt on the ground. I'm going to hit you so hard that you won't be able to tell what hit you first, the floor or my blade." Yuri told Kenpachi.

Kenpachi only chuckled, and then began to laugh at this new development. He was satisfied before with his fight, but now he is dead on happy about how things turned out. Is excitement got the better of himself. "Is that so boy? Well then," Kenpachi stood up straight with a wide smile on his face to show his excitement. "BRING IT ON!" Kenpachi shouted at the top of his lungs as his Reiatsu surged like crazy all over the place.

Yuri ran forward, ignoring the sudden surge Kenpachi and leapt into a barrel roll. "Destruction field!" Yuri shouted as he smashed his blade on top of Kenpachi's guarding one, smashing him into another crater. Kenpachi pushed him off and leapt forward again to stab at Yuri's neck. Yuri put his gauntlet up and allowed the momentum of Kenpachi's attack to push him back so he can make some distance.

"How did you come back to life!" Kenpachi shouted as he rushed over to Yuri again and delivered another flurry of slashes at Yuri like a mad beast. Yuri managed to parry them off him as calmly as possible to fend off the raging shinigami. "How did you suddenly get so strong with all those crazy attacks you just pulled off!"

Yuri jumped away to clear some distance while shouting, "Azure Storm!" Yuri fired two blasts of blue light at Kenpachi, one after the other. The first one missed, but the second connected and left a gash on his chest. Kenpachi charged forward again, ignoring the pain and swung horizontally. Yuri jumped up and front flipped past Kenpachi. Throughout this entire fight, Kenpachi has been laughing like crazy.

"You know what, screw the details!" Kenpachi shouted as he flared his reiatsu again. "Let's just enjoy ourselves!"

"Fine by me!" Yuri shouted as well as his Reiatsu surged as well. "I finally have my head straight this time. Now I'm going to dish out every kind of pain on you!" Yuri and Kenpachi charged at each other like a couple of magnets trying to reconnect, only this moment they are trading blows. "And I will enjoy every minute of taking you down!"

"That's more like it!" Kenpachi shouted with joy as they continued to trade blows left and right. The fight became endless as the both continued to pass injuries upon each other, neither of which are letting up. Yuri had dished out so much for so long that normally he would have collapsed already, but he remained diligent in the want to take him down. Kenpachi still has his energy and is not letting up on bit. However, at some point, Kenpachi had stopped attacking completely and gave out a battle cry so loud it was like a rock concert stormed past. Yuri jumped away to see the now panting Kenpachi stand up straight and stare up to the sky.

"This is the best!" Kenpachi began to speak. "An even fight! NO! You may actually be even higher in strength then me!" Yuri took a few steps to the side; standing still for him doesn't feel right when it comes to waiting for your opponent. "How long's it been since I had such an uplifting feeling…"

_I got a bad feeling about this._ Yuri thought to himself as he braced for what could come next.

"With you," Kenpachi said calmly as he reached for his eye patch. "I think I can fight with no restraints at all!" The moment Kenpachi removed his eye patch, the entire area felt like it was about to explode in just the immense jump of Spiritual pressure that had emitted from Kenpachi, so huge that even Yuri in his powered up state had taken a few steps back. A spiral flame like energy wave continues to emit and shoot up to the sky from where Kenpachi stood. Yuri had to hold his weapon up to keep the wind from blowing in his eyes.

"Well that's just great." Yuri exhaled in annoyance. "After all this time you still had something up your sleeve." Yuri swung his sword to brush aside the wind to a different direction so he can see Kenpachi more clearly. "I should know by now nothing is ever that simple. So what's with that eye patch of yours?"

"This?" Kenpachi lifted his eye patch up to show it to Yuri. He saw a bunch of mouths on it. "This is something I had the Research and Development Bureau make. A monster that endlessly consumes spiritual power." Kenpachi threw away his eye patch to the side. "All the power I have been feeding to this thing…" Kenpachi gripped his sword tighter and swung at his right side, causing the building that is next to him to collapse from getting cut cleanly across at an angle. "I'm going to put into crushing you!" Kenpachi declared as the rubble fell all around him.

"Can you hear it Yuri?" Luna appeared behind Yuri and wrapped her arms around Yuri's neck like a wolf cub clinging to its parent. "The screaming of his sword." Yuri shut his eyes and listened, he nods in confirmation to Luna's question. "He can't hear it. When two who don't trust each other fight together, it only hurts one another. One who believes in his own power cannot understand that. The same went for us when you relied too much on me while disregarding your own ability." Luna unhooked herself and stepped to Yuri's side.

"This time, now and forever forward, we fight together, lending each other strength." Yuri declared, Luna disappeared from sight and Yuri gripped his sword tighter as he surges his reiatsu. "Sorry Kenpachi, but I've been hiding something deep inside of me."

"Is that so?" Kenpachi sneered with a demonic look on his face. "Then…BRING IT OUT!" Kenpachi challenged as a skull-like image appeared in his spiritual energy that is leaking everywhere..

Yuri took that challenge. "I'll blow you away!" Yuri shouted as his reiatsu surged again, four times more powerful, while emitting a violet colored aura around him. Kenpachi charged forward with blade in hand, but this time, Yuri didn't allow him to make the first strike. Yuri vanished from sight and appeared above Kenpachi. "Severing Fang!" Yuri landed in front of Kenpachi, catching him off guard and kicked him into the air while leaping up to slam him back down with his sword. The ground around Kenpachi where he landed crumbled from the force.

It wasn't over yet.

When Yuri landed he called out, "Guardian Field!" While slamming his sword into the ground, he heals his wounds fully thanks to the influence of Luna's power, and also getting Kenpachi caught in the aura caused him to stagger when he tried to get up. "You're dead!" Yuri gleamed white and delivered a flurry of slashes at Kenpachi. "Divine Wolf: Storm!" Yuri finished off the attack with a gust shooting out of Yuri's sword that blew Kenpachi away a few yards.

"What was that!" Kenpachi shouted as he tried to recover, but when he got up, his entire body felt like it froze. "W-What!"

Yuri then began moving at speeds no human could ever achieve. He wildly struck at Kenpachi with his sword, injuries piling up as the attacks slowly became more relentless.

**O Brilliant Blade of Coldest Steel…**

Yuri then began picking up the pace, each slash harder and faster than the last. Kenpachi couldn't find a way to escape this time.

…**Rend the Infinite Darkness…**

Yuri was now moving so fast, he was invisible to the naked eye. Kenpachi is now overwhelmed.

…**And Crush My Enemies to Nothing!**

The attacks kept coming continuously to the point where it felt impossible to know if it would ever end. However with each slash that hit Kenpachi, his smile grew wider. The smile is not sinister though it was satisfactory. Yuri slashed through Kenpachi one last time, appearing several feet beyond him.

**SAVAGE WOLF FURY!**

Kenpachi smile widened one last time, admitting defeat. Energy erupted from the ground, sending Kenpachi into the air, making him a target for the finisher. Yuri jumped into the air, high above Kenpachi, sword spinning in Yuri's hand. "This is it!" Yuri fired off the biggest and most powerful Azure Edge he had ever done, with a giant explosion erupting from the impact, destroying at least a kilometer of the area he is in. The area had lit up from the explosion, making it seeable from all over the Seretei since it flashed brighter than the sun itself.

When the light dimmed, the area was just one big crater from where Yuri and Kenpachi were fighting. Yuri walked up sluggishly to the now defeated Kenpachi, who is so battered up that if he actually cut him into pieces, he would be a jigsaw puzzle. Yuri chuckles slightly and falls on his back unconscious, lying beside Kenpachi. Although Yuri had managed to heal all of his wounds beforehand, it didn't mean he had his energy back. That entire fight, took out so much of his stamina, that it would feel like a couple of years would have been taken off Yuri's life. Better than just getting killed right then and there in his opinion.

Kenpachi lifted his head slightly, feeling that his entire body had just been chopped up like mixed vegetables. He looked at Yuri who lay beside him. Then only thing he did was laugh. He coughed up blood while doing so, but he continued anyway. "You…did good kid…I lost."

"Kenny!" Yachiru shouted as she came running to the scene beside Kenpachi. "Wow, you really got beat up. Did you lose?"

"Yeah…I lost." Kenpachi admitted as he exhaled with a wide smile.

Yachiru looked over to Yuri, who is looking rather peaceful on the ground. "Thanks for giving Kenny a good time Wolfy. If you can, you should come back to fight against Kenny again." Yachiru grabbed Kenpachi and took once last look at Yuri. "See you around." She took off from the area, leaving Yuri to lay there like a lump on the road.

* * *

**A/N And now Yuri's dead tired. Thanks to the help of Luna and Guardian field, Yuri needs no medication. Which is good because otherwise he would eventually be nothing but bandages later *sneer* anyway. Things are really looking up right now for Yuri, let's hope things don't get out of hand ok? Fav and review if you haven't done so.**


	26. Moments Reprieve

**A/N Sry this took so long, writes block had me for weeks. Have at it.**

* * *

**Third Person View**

The tall buildings made it hard to navigate the area, but Fedrock's seemed to know where they were going. They both ran though the last stretch of the alleyway they were in to see the tall tower that is the Shrine of Pentenance. Karol stopped and panted heavily until he fell on his knees, wheezing even harder than before. Fedrock himself is out of breath; He never had to run so much before until now.

"We made it." Fedrock exhaled with relief. He glanced back to the area behind them, feeling that the situation behind them had calmed down. Normally Fedrock would be glad that things are clamer, but considering the fact that Yuri was fighting Kenpachi didn't ease him. The only thing Fedrock felt is worry; thinking that Yuri had possibly lost.

"Fedrock." Karol spoke out his friends name as he straightened himself out by bending backwards. "Is Yuri going to be alright?" Fedrock brought his gaze to the young boss of Brave Vesperia. "His opponent is super strong! What if he-"

"He'll live." Fedrock said with an assuring tone, but in reality he was lying through his teeth just to ease Karol's worries. Fedrock didn't feel much hope for Yuri. Whether he won or lost didn't matter though, only the mission he had to complete for Yuri's sake. "Let's head up now. We're close to our goal and we can't screw up here." Karol nods and runs alongside Fedrock up to the next level.

* * *

**Yuri's Location**

The Battle was finished; Yuri being victorious. However, he is still unconscious on the ground after the vigor in his being drained away from overexertion. Thus Yuri has become a perfect target for anyone who may stroll through the area. Luckily only an ally came to the area. Yoruichi, who had been separated from everyone before, finally appeared and strolled her way over to Yuri's side. She taps his body a few times to see if he would react. When she got no response, she sighed.

"Yuri Lowell." Yoruichi muttered to herself. "I can see why your friends hold you up so highly." She strolled around till she is in front of Yuri's face. "I never thought that you would manage to take down Kenpachi Zaraki of all people and remained unscathed, although you did take a thrashing before that." Yoruichi sits and places her paw on Yuri's head. "I can see he pushed you to the wall. That last move you made took out every last drop of energy from you." Yoruichi examined Yuri's physical condition. She chuckled at how he is sleeping soundly. "You seem to be at peace, but we should get you out of here before we get caught." Yoruichi had begun to emit a blue wave of energy that eventually developed into a blinding light.

* * *

**Bridge to Shrine**

Fedrock and Karol looked down at two guards overlooking the bridge to their destination from above. Both the guards weren't that strong so a sigh of relief came over Yuri's companions as they planned out their attack. Fedrock and Karol looked at each other for one moment, nodded, and leapt off the rooftop down onto both of them. Fedrock impacted the first guards head with his knee while Karol came down with his hammer on the other one. Both guards got smashed onto the floor and sequentially knocked out.

"Alright! Piece of cake." Karol sheered as he high fived Fedrock.

"Nice call on that idea." Fedrock smirked. "Now let's get over to Rukia." Karol nodded with a satisfying grunt and ran across the bridge behind Fedrock. Once they reached up to the shutter type door. Karol began to examine it. "Hang on a sec." Fedrock reached into his sleeves and shuffled around in them. "I took this key a while back so we could-" Fedrock got distracted when he heard a click. He looks up to see that the door is unlocked now.

"Who do you think I am?" Karol grinned. "Yuri put me up to this a lot of times. So I kinda got used to it."

Fedrock wanted to question where Karol got his skill from, but he was glad that he has such a handy trait. "Good job. That saves us some trouble i guess." Fedrock gave an approving gesture, although he was a bit disappointed that he didn't even need the key and he went through some trouble to get it. Without drawing out the key from his sleeve, he removed his hand from his clothing. "Let's crack this door open." Fedrock walked over to the door and tapped it a few times, signaling the door to rise with a grinding noise of stone and sand. Once it completely opened; Karol and Fedrock entered to see Rukia sitting in her white robe near a very tiny slight showing to be her only window.

She turned her gaze to the open door. Her eyes widen in shock at seeing the one person he never thought she would see. "K-Karol!" She shouted as she shot up to her feet.

"Rukia!" Karol shouted in return as he dashed over to Rukia's side. "Alright! We finally got to you!" HE cheered.

"W-What are you doing here!" Rukia scolded as she wacked Karol over the head.

"Ow." Karol rubbed the top of the head as it throbbed. "Can't I not get hit at least once by you guys!" Karol shook off the moment to look seriously at Rukia. "Yuri and the rest of us came to rescue you of course! We couldn't leave you here knowing what would happen to you."

"Karol, you do realize what you have gotten yourself into right?" Rukia asked with a stern gaze. Even though Rukia became aggravated that everyone came for her, she felt some sort of relief from seeing a friendly face.

"Of course we do. We all prepared for what we would fight against. Yuri especially!" Karol replied back. Rukia fell silent for a few moments after the mentioning of Yuri. Her gaze met the floor and her facial expression became softer and sadder. Karol's tone did the same. "Yuri fought his way through everyone to get here, and then left us to grab you and leave."

"Where's Yuri now?" Rukia asked feeling worried for the swordsman she dragged down into her mess.

"That doesn't matter." Fedrock walked up and stood behind Karol. "What matters is that we get you out of here since he entrusted us with your rescue Rukia Kuchiki."

Rukia's eyes suddenly enveloped in shock and her head picked up to meet Fedrock's gaze as a response. "That voice!" Rukia softly spoke out. "You're-" Before she could keep speaking, the three of them started to feel a surge of spiritual pressure around them. It was heavy, almost as bad as when they stood near Kenpachi. No doubt in their minds, it's a captain.

"No way. We came so far." Karol started to shake a bit from the approaching storm, but Fedrock stood valiantly straight and stared out the door.

"You shouldn't stay! You have to-"

"Escape?" Fedrock finished off Rukia's statement. "The only way out is that bridge, and our enemy is right now crossing it." Fedrock drew out his wakazashi and walked forward. "We have no choice but to fight." Fedrock walked forward to the door. "I should have expected that I would run into him eventually."

"Fedrock!" Karol shouted as he ran up to him. He stood by his side and drew out his hammer to back him up, but Fedrock pushed him hard enough to send him flying over to Rukia's side instead. "What are you doing!"

"Stay with Rukia. I'll be back." Fedrock told Karol. Karol got edgy and gripped his weapon tighter, but he calmed himself down and stood straight. Karol looked at him once more and gave threw a smile his way, showing that he trusts Fedrock's decision. Fedrock nodded at the boy and turned to the exit.

Fedrock walked outside and made his way across the bridge. When he looked ahead, he found out his suspicions were right about his opponent. The infamous Byakuya Kuchiki stood before him. Although Byakuya didn't know who was beneath the mask, Fedrock apparently knew him well enough. "Nice to see you again." Fedrock placed his hand on his hip and swayed left and right. "I never thought I would be standing before you like this."

* * *

**13****th**** squad Barracks, Captain Quarters**

Yeager, Kiyone, and Sentaro had arrived earlier to tell Ukitake the news on Aizen's death. Yeager actually wasn't there when Aizen was killed, but he still had to at least keep his captain informed of a serious matter like that. Since Ukitake is bed ridden, Yeager had to pick up the slack for his squad. Thankfully, to some degree, he had the help of his two lower seats that sat behind him while Yeager gave the final portions of his report.

"And that is all there is to it Captain." Yeager bowed at his captain that is still lying in his bed.

"I see." Ukitake lowered his head to collect his thoughts. The idea of a Captain losing in battle to him is very disturbing according to the events that are occurring. "You mentioned before you had encountered the Ryoka before correct?"

"Indeed." Yeager nodded. "I traded blows with my foe, but his fighting prowess is to be commended." Yeager didn't seem disheartened by his words; rather pleased is the correct terminology. Although everyone else in the room is confused by his tone, even though they should be used to it at this point. "However I highly doubt that the Ryoka are the ones that could have killed Aizen. The one I fought is the strongest, but he didn't have the strength enough to actually take one down. Even if he did manage to push me back."

"If that's so then how did Aizen get killed?" Kiyone questioned in a low voice, trying not to overstep her boundaries. Yeager turned to her with a grin and nodded.

"It's true that the Ryoka are the only suspects at this point, but I feel that something is missing in all this." Yeager hypothesized. "A third party could be at large."

"You really think so?" Sentaro asked

"As I said before, it's merely speculation. I'm just saying that we shouldn't conclude how he met his demise so quickly." Yeager explained. "Whatever the case is, I ask that you allow me to leave now. I must go lend a hand to my comrades."

Ukitake shut his eyes for a moment, thinking on what Yeager told him. Although the idea of a third party is indeed farfetched to him, his argument is still valid about the Ryoka being able to kill Aizen. "Alright. You may leave now Lieutenant Von Kruse. But be careful out there, if your speculation turned out to be true than things will get dangerous around here for everyone."

"You need not worry Taicho." Yeager assured while brushing aside his hair. "I'm capable of holding my own. But may I ask what will you do?"

Ukitake got up on his feet and dropped the icepack on the ground next to him. "I will do some investigating on my own. But first I must go somewhere."

* * *

**Hidden Cave**

Yuri woke up, lying on his back feeling just about as crummy as he did when Flynn's lieutenant stabbed him. His eyes took in the surroundings above him. _All right where am I this time? _Yuri shut his eyes to take a deep breath. _Was I captured while I was passed out? _He reopened them and relaxed himself. _Doesn't seem like it though, there's only one spiritual pressure…and it's right next to me. _

Yuri made to get up, but a familiar voice called out to him to grab his attention. "Easy there Yuri, it's only the two of us here." Yuri, sitting up, turned his head to the right to see the small black cat that is Yoruichi.

"Yoruichi?" Yuri became glad to see a familiar face after all the thrashing he's been through. "Did you bring me here?" he questioned.

"I did, you're lucky one of your last few attacks healed most of your wounds. Carrying you here became much easier because of that." Yoruichi told him.

"Yeah that arte of mine has saved me plenty of times in the past." Yuri replied back as he leaned forward. After a moment he then noticed something very wrong with the situation. While he's sitting around becoming all friendly with Yoruichi, Flynn had been taken down earlier. "Flynn!" Yuri shouted as he sprung to his feet, but he felt Yoruichi lunge at his chest and knock him back down to the futon in a sitting position. "H-Hey!" the adolescent soul reaper protested.

"Relax!" The dark cat shouted in a commanding voice to Yuri as she sat on his lap. "Flynn is fine. Judith and Repede are fine as well." Yoruichi assured him and continued to explain. "Flynn was lucky to fight who he did. His opponent left him wounded, but alive. Judith and Repede have surprisingly avoided major confrontation and haven't gotten so much as a scratch in the fights that they have been a part of."

Yuri said nothing; only accepting what Yoruichi had told him. He threw himself back; lying flat on the futon as he collected his thoughts from the past events. "Anything else i should know?" Yuri inquired.

"Not particularly, as I mentioned you managed a spectacular recovery of your injures with that arte." Yoruichi then walked over to Yuri's side and lifted up a white object with her paw. "Although, I did find this on you." Yoruichi pushed forward a white mask with a black four-prong star symbol starting at the bridge of the nose and extending outwards past the eyes at an angle. Yuri tilted his head towards the object Yoruichi is holding up. Yuri sat up casually while being confused with what he is seeing.

"That was on me?" Yuri's eyes widen with confusion. The last he knew of it, the mask had been throw into the water by him personally. To see it now is rather shocking. "How?"

"What do you mean? How could you have it on you and not know?" Yoruichi asked him.

"I had it on me when I fought Renji. It stopped my arm from being cut clean off." Yuri removed the clothing around his shoulder to reveal that scar that got left behind. "But right after the fight I threw it in the underground waterway and it sank like a rock. I chucked it myself." Yuri fixed his shihakusho back into place and sighed. "It's official. I'm cursed."

"If you don't want it, I'd be happy to take it off your hands," Yoruichi said feeling concerned about what Yuri had told her..

"Be my guest, not like I have any use for it," Yuri told the small feline with a nod and plopped back to the ground. "Now that i think about, with you being so small." Yuri sat up again to face Yoruichi again. "How is it that you got me here?"

"Lifting things is no problem once I revert to my original form," Yoruichi replied, looking to the side.

Yuri raised an eyebrow in question. "I knew you couldn't just be some random talking cat considering my experience, but do you care to at least show me what you really look like?"

"I have no problem with that," Yoruichi said walking over to where the door is that led into the small alcove, "Having come this far there's no reason to keep it hidden from you and your friends." Yoruichi leaned back as if stretching, "Behold this is what I really look like." Dense fog began emitting everywhere as a sudden change took hold of Yoruichi. First long purple hair extended out from the small cat's skull before the feline became as long as a human. The cat then propped itself up on its hind legs and took a fully human composition, that of a woman's. Her dark black fur retracted and became smooth ebony skin. Her chest is well shaped and her hair came down her back to her waistline. She had golden eyes and a slim yet curvy figure. She stood in front of Yuri wearing absolutely nothing, although she didn't realize that part.

Yuri found his gave fixated on her for a few moments, but after that he averted his sight to the side. "Could have given me a warning." Yuri said retaining his composure.

Yoruichi became slightly confused, "What do you mean?" She tilted he head to the right to flesh out her confusion.

"Just trying to make sure my eyes won't wander too much." Yuri told her.

Yoruichi caught on to what Yuri was getting at after taking a quick glance at herself. Dissatisfied with the reaction, she decided to tease him a bit. Yoruichi took a few steps towards him. "First you act so unsurprised that I'm a woman and now you pretend you're not interested in me? I'm hurt." she said without any inflection of said emotion. "Come on, don't pretend you don't find me rather inviting."

"Who said anything about you not being interesting?" Yuri played along with her mischievous teasing; finding some amusement in playing around with her. "You look better than most women i come across. I think even Judith would be jealous if she saw you now." Yuri chuckled for his own amusement.

"Oh so I'm better looking than Judith to you? I'm flattered." Yoruichi took a few more steps towards Yuri and sat on his lap with her arms around his neck. "Well I always used you as my personal bed for some time. Could it be that you got attached?" she batted her eyes at him for extra effect.

"That's mostly out of you threatening me, so I had little choice." Yuri replied with a sweat-drop.

"Aww." Yoruichi pulled him closer to her and placed his head below her chin. "I'm sorry about that. Maybe I can make it up to you?" Yoruichi continued her play.

"Tempt me anymore and i may take you up on that offer." Yuri could feel Yoruichi's breath hit him as his head rested on her chest.

"Then why don't you?" Yoruichi bade as she lowered her head till her forehead touched upon Yuri's. "I'm game if you are." Her eyes were softer. "No one's going to die in the next thirty minutes assuming you can last that long." Yoruichi got proven wrong moments later as they both felt an enormous amount of spiritual pressure around them. Both became frozen in shock, Yuri being the first one to shake the feeling off and bolt up on his feet.

"Fedrock!" Yuri shouted after he analyzed who the pressure belonged to. However he wasn't the only one. "Him!" Yuri glanced over to the left and saw an ornate dragon figure. Yuri recognized it as a flying contraption that Fedrock explained to him earlier when they were goofing off at Kukaku's place. He grabbed it and bolted outside while activating it to soar over to Fedrock's location.

In all that commotion, Yoruichi sat up with her legs crossed. "That's just wrong." Yoruichi sighed. "No time for that though, Yuri is being reckless, so I have to go drag him back."

* * *

**A/N Nothing to note. Just see you next chapter**


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